I can teach you if you want
by Got a jar of dirt
Summary: A few simple sentences can change a persons life; for better or for worse. Kakashi utters one of these simple sentences to a five year old Naruto in a chance meeting. How will this affect both their lives and the shinobi world as a whole? Brotherly!Kakashi, Believably Strong / Smart Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto was smart. Maybe he wasn't the type of smart that made him brilliant with numbers or words but that didn't mean he wasn't.

No, he was the type of smart when you're given a puzzle with missing pieces, he still completes it and knows what he's looking at. That's how Naruto was smart and the reason why he knew he wasn't like everyone else.

It had taken him nearly five years to finally understand that he was different than everyone. It took him that long to understand that no one else received the glares did, no one else was cursed at and thrown out of stores, no one else had their right to exist denied.

It had puzzled him for a very long time. He knew that he wasn't like everyone else but he didn't know why. He had a head, two arms, two legs, feet, hands and etc. He looked like everyone else.

Well, perhaps that wasn't true. He was the only one that he knew had blonde hair yet his hair darkened onto a reddish blonde at the tips. He didn't know anyone else that had the same shade of cerulean blue eyes but around his pupil his eyes darkened into an amethyst purple.

But that didn't make sense! He had seen a man with gray hair that stood up and he wasn't treated any differently! Well, except for the women cursing at him because of some book he read.

After Naruto ruled out that it was because of his appearance, he searched for the reason elsewhere. He looked up his name, trying to see if his family had done something in the past and he was being hated for their deeds.

He found out that there was a clan called the Uzumaki's but they had been destroyed in the second shinobi war. What's more, the Uzumaki and their village been very close with Konoha so that couldn't be it.

That didn't mean he hadn't been excited to know that he once had family, there was even the chance there had been survivors!

He looked in the village's ninja records of shinobi to see if any came to Konoha, secretly of course, and found the name of a woman named Kushina Uzumaki. Much to his sadness, she was deceased due to the Kyuubi attack six years ago.

Naruto knew that the woman was likely his mother. The records had shown that she had been pregnant five years ago and he had been born at the time of her death. From her autopsy report, she seemed to have given birth to him then joined her comrades fighting the Kyuubi!

Naruto thought he had a really badass mom and cried over her passing. After his tears had dried, he looked for some information regarding his father but he sadly found nothing.

After ruling out that he wasn't hated because of something his clan had done wrong in the past, he was at a loss for a long time.

He had nearly given up hope until one night he had snuck into the library to read. Reading was one of his favorite pass times; books never cursed at him, books never called him mean names!

Books just wanted to be read; it didn't matter if it was by an orphan or by a king!

He wasn't allowed into the library; the librarian always threw him out when she saw him. She would even throw away the books he had touched! Though, she didn't know that Naruto always rescued them from the trash.

During his midnight reading, he stumbled upon a word that finally gave him the answer he had been looking for. A single word that ended his quest for an answer and changed the world for him forever.

Jinchuriki.

A human sacrifice, a vessel for one of the nine Bijuu. A human weapon that would slaughter thousands when ordered.

That's what he was. A weapon. A tool for his village to use at their convenience.

What else could he be? He had been born on the same night that the Kyuubi had attacked. He found out that there was no known way of killing a Bijuu, they could only be sealed away.

Unlike other Bijuu, the Kyuubi couldn't be sealed inside an object. It could only be sealed inside a person.

That person was him.

Naruto had been understandably distraught after learning this. Especially when he realized that his hero had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him.

In truth, Naruto didn't hate the Fourth Hokage. He understood that there had to be sacrifices in order to protect Konoha, he was just one of those sacrifices. Naruto didn't think that the Fourth wanted to seal the Kyuubi inside of him but he just didn't have another choice.

Naruto had been depressing for days afterward. It was to be expected considering what he had just learned.

However, there had been an edge of happiness in him. He finally understood. Now that he knew why everyone looked at him with those cruel and cold eyes; it was so much easier to bear.

After he had left the library that night, he had hardened his resolve. He would show the village! He would show them that he was Naruto Uzumaki and not the stupid Kyuubi!

The only way he knew how to show them that was to become a ninja. He hadn't really wanted to be a ninja, even though he was friends with the Hokage. He didn't like the fact that ninja lied and murdered.

That scared him; he didn't want to hurt anyone! The thought of murdering someone was unthinkable to Naruto's young mind.

However, if he wanted to be viewed as Naruto Uzumaki and not the Kyuubi then he would have to swallow his fears. He would become a ninja, not just any ninja but he would become the Hokage!

The only problem was how to become strong enough to become the Hokage. The Hokage was the strongest ninja in the village, and from what he had read about Jiji than he had a very long road ahead of him.

He didn't know how to become strong! While he was eligible to enter the academy this year because of Jiji, Naruto knew that he would be sabotaged. While most shinobi never out right hated him, he knew that the majority didn't like him.

He could only get a start in the library; it had the ninja basics available to civilians. Stuff like how to access your chakra, the basic three, how to throw kunai and things like that.

However, that wouldn't be enough! He couldn't become the Hokage with the Henge!

Naruto had begun to despair; if he didn't get anything above the basics then his dream was over before it even had a chance to begin! The academy teachers wouldn't teach him anything and he couldn't get anything else in the library that meant he was screwed!

However, unknown to Naruto, he would soon meet someone that would solve his problem.

* * *

Naruto raced home late at night, judging by the moon Naruto guessed it was roughly midnight. The streets were practically deserted, the only people in sight were a few drunks and ninja's running on the roof tops.

However, Naruto paid them no mind. He had just committed a major crime! He had stolen from the library!

He broke in and took several books that all related to becoming a ninja. He wasn't exactly sure what he had grabbed, he had been too nervous that he was going to be caught to pay any mind to the titles.

They were big though! One of them was nearly as big as his arm!

He had them stuffed in his book bag that he held to his chest. He was so focused on making sure that not a single one was visible or that his bulging book bag looked suspicious that he wasn't looking where he was going.

That was until he rounded a corner and collided face first into someone.

Naruto was knocked backwards and he fell on his side, his backpack coming free of his grasp. Naruto hissed in pain as he pulled himself together, ignoring his scraped knee as he looked for his backpack as he stammered an apology.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and I didn't see you, I'm sorry," he said as he looked down. From past experience, people were kinder when he bumped into them if they didn't recognize him.

Naruto felt panic bubbling in his small chest as he looked around, he couldn't find his book bag! He looked all around him and it was like it suddenly vanished!

_'Unless,'_ Naruto dared to peek up and saw that his book bag was being held out to him. If that didn't surprise him enough, he knew the person! It was the masked guy that got yelled at a lot by girls.

Naruto froze for a second before he reached out, "T-thats mine," he said weakly, knowing that now the man knew that it was his he wouldn't let him have it.

To Naruto's shock, the man smiled at him! Well, not exactly a smile, but an eye smile.

"I know, here you are," he said kindly as he gave the bag a small shake. Naruto snatched it from the man's grasp and gave him a small glare, almost as if he dared him to try to take it back.

Kakashi chuckled as he returned to his full height as he looked down at the small boy that would have been his little brother.

This was Kakashi's first time having a conversation with him. However, it wasn't because Kakashi hated Naruto for what he contained.

It was because Kakashi was a part of his ANBU guard. The Hokage had prohibited him from speaking to the boy; then he and the shinobi council had denied every attempt he made to adopt Naruto.

He had nearly rained down hell on the village for that but he was stopped thanks to the combined efforts of Gai and Asuma to calm him down.

After the failed adoption attempts, he became Naruto's ANBU guard. If Kakashi couldn't protect Naruto in the light than he would protect him from the shadows.

Kakashi repressed a sigh as he took in Naruto's appearance. The boy was a little on the skinny side and his clothes were several sizes too big. However, Kakashi ignored that in favor of focusing on Naruto's bloodied knee.

He nearly winced when he saw it, he felt terrible when he realized that he caused the wound. To his surprise, Naruto didn't even seem to register the knee.

'_Children your age should be screaming their head off when their hurt like that,_' He thought as he watched Naruto get up and begin to make his way back home.

Naruto had already thanked the odd man, he had manners of course, but Kakashi had been too lost in his thoughts to hear him.

"However," Kakashi said, a grin in his voice, "I believe this belongs to the library," he said as he held up a book titled 'Fuinjutsu for beginners; how not to blow yourself up!' by Jiraiya.

Naruto froze as he slowly turned around. His stomach was in his sandals; he had been caught! When did the man take that out of his bag? What did he do now?

"I, uhh, that's, I...I'm sorry," Naruto said in an upset voice as he slowly made his way back to Kakashi for whatever punishment awaited him. He looked down at his sandals as he held out the book bag filled with knowledge.

Kakashi stifled a chuckle when he saw Naruto walking back like any other child would when caught red-handed.

He took the back pack and opened it and saw that it was stuffed with ninja basic books. His only visible eye widened a fraction as when he saw that. Not even a week ago, Naruto was completely against being a ninja.

What had changed?

"Hmmm, quite the haul you have here...any reason why a boy your age is stealing from the library at this time of night?" He asked in his most stern parent voice. It was bad at best considering he had just turned seventeen and his father had killed himself when he was five...then sensei died when he only knew him for a few years.

So Kakashi wasn't exactly sure how to sound like a parent.

If it were possible, Naruto's shoulders lowered further, "I wanted to learn how to become a ninja," Naruto answered honestly.

Kakashi already knew that so he prompted Naruto to continue, "Why do you want to be a ninja?" He asked in a lazy tone. Despite his tone, Kakashi was rather curious.

The boy had shut the Hokage down every time the old man brought up the subject of shinobi. While Kakashi could see that the ability to breathe fire and command lighting appealed to the child, like it would to any other, Naruto saw past the glory.

Naruto looked underneath the underneath, he saw how bloody and brutal the shinobi world was and wanted nothing to do with it.

"I...I want to become Hokage!" Naruto all but shouted as his eyes shined with determination. He stared up at Kakashi as if he were daring him to ridicule his goal. His stare promised a bloody end if he did.

Once again, to Naruto's surprise; the man seemed to bring up that feeling a lot with Naruto, the white haired ninja chuckled, "Hokage huh? That's a pretty big goal," Kakashi commented.

Naruto paused for a second. The man hadn't made fun of him? Why? Why didn't this man look at him with those cruel, cold...eye? What was different about this man?

All these questions raced through Naruto's young mind but he was snapped out of his pondering when he saw Kakashi was waiting for him to say something, "Yeah I guess..." Naruto muttered.

"Aren't you a bit young to want to be a ninja," Kakashi asked, feeling like a hypocrite as he did so. He had become a genin at five, the same age as Naruto right now. Hell, in three months from now would be the anniversary of his first kill!

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "I'm joining in the academy this year," he shot back. Slowly his initial nervousness began to fade and a brash attitude replacing it.

"Oh, if you're enrolling this year than why did you steal these books?" Kakashi asked though he knew the answer. It seemed Naruto was able to foresee the problem with entering the academy as well.

Naruto winced, realizing that he walked right into a trap, "Because...because people don't like me! They're going to mess with me so Imma become strong on my own," Naruto yelled.

Kakashi sighed softly when he heard that and before he even knew what he was doing, he patted Naruto on the head, "No need for that, I can teach you if you want," he said. The words slipping out of his mouth before he even knew what they were.

Naruto looked up at the man in complete shock and Kakashi felt how he looked.

_'Where did that come from?'_ he silently asked himself. The words just came out, he hadn't thought about what he was saying until he had already said it.

Kakashi could practically feel the shit storm that was going to rage because of that one simple sentence.

However, Kakashi didn't regret saying it. Those few words were how he truly felt. He wanted to teach Naruto, he wanted to help him to his goal unhindered by the idiots in the village.

He wanted Naruto to look up to him, to see that he was there for him.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, "R-really?" He asked in a guarded tone. The offer had come completely out of nowhere and Naruto was more than a little suspicious of it. For all he knew it was some mean trick!

However, Naruto hoped the man's offer was genuine. The man hadn't looked at him with that mean stare, no he looked at him like the opposite! The man's eye was warm, like he liked him! Like he saw Naruto for Naruto and not what he contained! Like he wasn't a weapon for the village!

The man gave him another eye smile, "You bet," he said in a chipper tone as he gave Naruto's head another rub, "I'll just have to tell the Hokage but that'll be simple enough!" he lied smoothly.

Naruto beamed with happiness, a smile on his face so bright Kakashi nearly had to look away, "Thank you mister!" He said with a full blown smile.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask, "The name's Hatake Kakashi," he said as he gave Naruto back 'his' book. Naruto flushed as he took it back and stuffed it in his backpack.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto introduced himself as he slung the backpack over his shoulder.

Kakashi gave him another eye smile, "Nice to meet you Naruto," he said as he shook the young boy's hand.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a flat tone. He was the Hokage of the village and the strongest one in it. At one point in his earlier life, he had been one of the strongest in the world.

He was the God of Shinobi, the man that knew and mastered every jutsu in the village that wasn't a clan technique. He had a SS-rank in the bingo book when he was younger but now he was an old man.

He was still an S-ranked shinobi without a doubt but he was approaching his seventies and was nowhere near as strong as he once was.

Kakashi was unfazed by his request being denied, he had expected that from the beginning.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto wishes to become a shinobi. He can't go to the academy, they'll ruin him! I, on the other hand, am ANBU and until recently I was a captain, I can teach Naruto and make him a force to be reckoned with," Kakashi responded calmly but there was passion in his voice.

"That's the problem Kakashi, you're ANBU, one of the best," Hiruzen said as he puffed on his pipe. The smell of tobacco filled the room but Kakashi paid it no mind.

After the Hokage lit his pipe he continued, "Kakashi, you are a major asset to this village, with the Kyuubi attack and my...student's defection, we are severely weakened. Our position as the strongest village is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to keep others from invading. I cannot allow you to withdraw from ANBU at this time. We are already too weak as it is and if you step down from ANBU, then we will be weakened even further," Hiruzen explained.

If it had been a different time, Hiruzen would fully support the idea. He saw potential in Naruto and knew he would make a splendid shinobi. However, the timing was too poor; they couldn't lose another excellent shinobi at this time.

It had actually been that reason why Hiruzen prohibited Kakashi from interacting with Naruto. He had been even against Kakashi becoming Naruto's tail but had relented when he saw how passionate he was about it; how much hell he would raise if he was denied this as well.

Kakashi nodded in understanding, he understood his village's situation and how big of a part he played in it.

Kakashi steeled himself and took a calming breath; he was about to do something very, very, very, VERY stupid. However, if it worked then the payoff would be big enough that he could teach Naruto.

He just hoped his horrible luck took a major turn for the better.

Kakashi walked forward to the Hokage's desk, confusing the weathered man greatly, before he reached up to his headband and untied it.

"If that's the case, I, Hatake Kakashi, jonin and ANBU of Konoha's forces, hereby resign," he said in an aloof tone to mask the nervousness he felt. He placed his headband on the Hokage's desk and took a step back.

There was a heavy silence, the only sound that could have been heard was the ANBU in the room taking a sharp intake of breath. The Hokage stared at Kakashi with a blank expression but Kakashi could see the surprise, shock and lastly, anger in the old man's eyes.

Kakashi briefly pondered that a few sentences seemed to change his life completely.

Hiruzen looked up at Kakashi in shock. While shinobi leaving the forces wasn't exactly uncommon, it was very dangerous for the higher ranking ones.

If you were a genin, it was as simple as handing in your headband. Genin weren't trusted with the secrets of the village so they didn't know anything worth wiping their memories for.

Chunin, on the other hand, depending on where they worked, had several memories sealed away. There was no permanent damage other than a few holes in their memory but those could be filled with fake memories by the Yamanaka's.

Jonin was a completely different story. Jonin ranked ninja knew dozens of very dangerous secrets about the village and if they were sealed away then brain damage would be the least of their worries.

It usually took a ninja years to reach the level of jonin so that was several years of experiences and missions that needed to be sealed away. When that happened then years of rehabilitation were necessary to help the ninja cope with having half of their life missing along with some brain damage that would occur during the sealing.

However, Kakashi wasn't just a jonin, he was ANBU. Hiruzen would have to double check but he was sure that there has never been ANBU that withdrew from the shinobi forces.

If they wanted to retire then they became a Jonin but they never left the forces.

While there were a few exceptions to this rule; like if a ninja went on maternity leave or they were forced to retire; then they were placed in the inactive list. They were still technically in the forces, they just didn't take missions.

Hiruzen wasn't sure the exact result if Kakashi proceeded with withdrawing but he was sure it would be something along the lines of him becoming a drooling wreck incapable of feeding himself.

Slowly, the shock and surprise left Hiruzen's eyes, leaving only anger, "You are playing a very dangerous game, Kakashi," Hiruzen said in a stern tone.

Kakashi didn't respond, he was too busy worrying if he had made a mistake. If this huge gamble didn't play out how he hoped it did than he had more or less just condemned himself to being mentally handicapped.

This entire gamble rested on the hope that he was too valuable to the village to let that happen and the Hokage would rather lose him for a year or two than lose him permanently.

Hiruzen breathed in tobacco and let it out in the form of a deep sigh, before he picked up Kakashi's headband and threw it back at him.

"You can keep that," he said in a flat tone, "but there are going to be several conditions if you want to teach Naruto."

Kakashi nodded as he tied his headband back on its rightful place, silently thanking lady luck for listening to his pleas for once.

"Firstly, you are still going to take regular missions. Since you became Naruto's guard, you've only gone on three or four missions a month. That's a major drop from your average of fifteen before. Now, your minimum is five missions a month."

Kakashi nodded, that was doable. Especially if they were assassination missions, those only took a day to complete, two depending on the difficulty.

"Secondly, you will have Naruto become genin material within a year," Hiruzen said, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock on Kakashi's face.

_'That...that's going to make things difficult,'_ He thought. If he was going to be taking five missions a month then he was going to be gone on average a week, possibly two, out of the month. So in reality, he only had six months, give or take, to make Naruto genin material.

Not only would he have to cram four years' worth of the academy into a single year but he was going to have to do it from scratch because Naruto didn't know jack about being a ninja.

"Failure to meet those conditions will result in you being discharged from the shinobi forces and your memories will be sealed accordingly. In addition, all memories of Naruto will be sealed away," Hiruzen in a cold tone.

If Kakashi wanted to play this game then he was going to make sure that he did it right. He wasn't going to let Kakashi half-ass this like he did just about everything else.

Kakashi's eye narrowed but he nodded, "Understood Hokage-sama," he said with conviction in his tone. He would _never_ let that happen.

Hiruzen puffed his pipe before he decided to toss Kakashi a bone, "if all of the requirements are met then Naruto will be named your apprentice and I'll allow you to retire from ANBU."

He could allow that. If, no, when, Kakashi made Naruto a genin in a year, Naruto would need a capable sensei to utilize his potential to the fullest. Kakashi was the best man for that job considering his brotherly bond with Naruto and being a prodigy himself.

However, there was another reason Hiruzen needed Naruto to become a ninja as soon as possible. It was because he was a Jinchuriki.

He needed Naruto to become a message to the other villages: "Not only do we have the strongest Bijuu but its container is also a prodigy."

That's what he needed Naruto to represent if Konoha wanted to keep its seat as the strongest village. To keep other villages away so they won't prey on them in their weakened state.

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise before he bowed, "Thank you Hokage-sama,"

* * *

"If that's all than you're dismissed,"

Naruto was practically bouncing with excitement. He had been woken up at six o'clock, something that confused him because he always woke up around eight, and saw a note telling him to be at training ground seven in thirty minutes.

At first he had been freaked out that his new sensei had broken into his apartment to leave a note and reset his alarm clock but he brushed away those concerns because he found out that Kakashi was strong!

Naruto had placed traps around his apartment in case someone ever tried to break in. It happened once before a few months ago, he wasn't home but some of the villagers had trashed his apartment. They drew on the walls, broke his stuff and tried to burn it down but the fire never caught.

Naruto had cried for hours when he came home but now he accepted the changes to his home. He placed posters over the mean words written on his walls, he replaced his carpet, something he was proud of, and used some money that Jiji gave him to buy new plates, chairs and stuff like that.

Anyway, after the event, Naruto had booby-trapped his apartment to prevent others from entering without his permission. None of the traps were deadly of course, they aimed to humiliate the intruders to the point vandalizing his home simply wasn't worth it.

When Naruto saw that Kakashi-sensei had managed to not only break in, but he did so without setting off a single trap! If he could manage that than Naruto could only imagine how strong his new teacher was!

Naruto raced to training ground seven, he had to ask directions from a ninja with a scar across his nose to get there, but he arrived ten minutes early. He was excited to see that his sensei was standing in the field with his back to him.

However, instead of running into the field like he had intended mere moments ago, Naruto felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.

What if this was a trick? What if it was a trap?

These things had happened before, people tricking him by pretending to be his friend so they could hurt him. They didn't happen anymore because he knew better but he had been so excited that Kakashi was nice that he hadn't considered the possibility.

Naruto slowed to a stop as he pondered if he trusted Kakashi. The man seemed nice, he seemed like Kakashi liked him like Jiji did.

However, Naruto knew that appearances were deceiving. People lied all the time and lying was a part of being a shinobi! If Kakashi was as strong as he thought he was then didn't that make him a good liar?

While Naruto considered himself a good judge of character, he had to become one when he was treated how he was, he didn't know if his ability to judge people surpassed Kakashi's ability to lie.

Naruto stood still for nearly a minute, filled with doubt and indecision, before he took a step forward.

He had faith in his ability and if Kakashi did turn out to be a bad guy that Naruto had faith in his ability to run away.

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask and he continued to fake his obliviousness to Naruto's presence. He was testing how much Naruto trusted him and his instincts.

He did rather well, he would have scolded the boy had he just run up to him without a second thought. However, Naruto debated if he trusted him since he only met him a handful of hours ago and decided to put faith in his abilities.

Naruto didn't know it but he already had the mindset of a shinobi.

Kakashi thought that was both a good thing and a very sad thing.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto greeted loudly as he entered the clearing.

Kakashi turned around and pretended that he hadn't noticed Naruto, "Ah, there you are! You're early," he commented as he gave the boy a disarming eye smile.

Normally, he himself would be several hours late but he really couldn't afford to waste time. So he had went to the KIA memorial a few hours earlier.

Naruto grinned at the silver haired man as he subtly examined his surroundings, he relaxed when he saw that he and Kakashi were alone.

Kakashi patted Naruto's head as he silently praised Naruto for taking in his surroundings. It made his job of turning Naruto into a genin in a single year so much easier since he already had a shinobi mindset.

"So, for us to get started, I need to know if you actually know anything about being a ninja."

"Ninja's kill and steal stuff," Naruto answered instantly, causing Kakashi to blanch. While the answer was most certainly true, it kinda hurt knowing Naruto didn't have a high opinion of him because of his job.

"Well, that's right but I was asking for stuff like if you've accessed your chakra or if you know how to throw a kunai," Kakashi stated, causing Naruto to 'oh.'

Naruto shook his head, "I don't know how to do any of that stuff, that's why I stole the books," he answered, feeling slightly guilty when he said the word stole.

Kakashi hummed in thought. While he hadn't expected any different, it was a little disheartening to see how long a road he had.

Then again, he got to teach Naruto from the ground up, if he was a quick learner then that would save time.

"Then we should start with unlocking your chakra," He said as he began to tell Naruto how to do so.

"Look deep within yourself and try to find a warm feeling in your stomach. When you find it, jump into it," Kakashi instructed. While the wording was rather vague, it had been the same instruction he was given when he unlocked his chakra.

Naruto nodded and did what he was told. He looked inside of himself as he cleared his mind of any other thought other than finding and unleashing his chakra. It took several minutes but he found the warm sensation in his stomach.

He mentally plunged himself into the feeling and he felt a reaction all over his body. It was like his entire body had fallen asleep and it awoke, bringing a prickly feeling all over.

However, it didn't feel bad! Naruto felt stronger, more alive than he had ever felt before!

Kakashi rose an eyebrow he was impressed. Not many unlocked their chakra on their first try.

"Very impressive, now take this and channel that feeling into it. This will tell me roughly how much chakra you have," he said as he gave Naruto a small piece of white paper.

It was similar to chakra paper but instead of telling you what chakra nature you had, it told you how large your reserves were. It would turn blue in the presence of chakra so the more blue you turned the paper the more chakra you had.

Naruto nodded as he accepted the paper and began focusing his chakra into it. He was surprised when he felt a sharp drain but ignored it and focused more chakra.

Several seconds later he was done and he showed the results.

Nearly half of the slip of paper had tuned into a dark blue; meaning that Naruto roughly had low jonin to high chunin chakra reserves.

_'No wonder he accessed his chakra so easily. It would be hard for him not to,'_ Kakashi thought as he gave Naruto a pat on the head and explained what the results meant.

While having large reserves was never a bad thing in the shinobi world, it did mean Naruto was going to have a major problem with chakra control. With his reserves so large, likely because of the Kyuubi, it meant that they were going to have to prioritize chakra control for the time being.

If they didn't then it would be unlikely that Naruto would ever be able to do the clone jutsu.

That thought made Kakashi realize something.

_'What about the Shadow Clone Jutsu?'_ He wondered to himself. Apparently Naruto had the reserves for it and it would most certainly speed up his learning process.

Kakashi gave Naruto a thoughtful look, _'No, not now. I'm not going to teach him an A-ranked jutsu on the same day he unlocked his chakra; I'll give it a few weeks and decide from there,'_ the masked ninja decided.

Not only were there risks but he didn't want Naruto to become used to the easy way of training. If Naruto became used to using shadow clones from the beginning then it would only hurt him in the long run.

"So I have a bunch of chakra?!" Naruto half asked and half exclaimed. He was excited, since he unlocked his chakra he had a lot more energy than he usually did.

Kakashi nodded, "Yep, a lot more than just about every other kid your age," he commented before saying, "Now, that is both a good and a bad thing," he said, causing Naruto's cheering to cease.

"How is it a bad thing?"

"Because that means you're going to have to work on chakra control a whole lot. It's really important because if you don't have good control then you're going to waste chakra whenever you use a jutsu," Kakashi explained before he handed Naruto a kunai.

Naruto looked down at the sharp piece of metal in confusion, "What do I do with this?" He asked his sensei who gave him an eye smile.

"You climb trees with it,"

* * *

They spent much of the day like that; Naruto practicing his chakra control by climbing trees without his hands, Kakashi offering tips and encouragements when the five year old became frustrated.

Kakashi didn't show it but he was very impressed with the progress Naruto had been making. Not only did he unlock his chakra but he was only a few feet away from reaching the first branch.

He was still a good while away from mastering the art of tree walking but he made great progress.

After Naruto went home, looking worse for wear but with a smile on his face, Kakashi decided to treat himself to some sweet literature and maybe a cup of tea.

Well, that had been his plan until his self-proclaimed rival saw him.

"Hell-o Kakashi! How is my most youthful rival doing this most beautiful evening?" Gai said, doing his best to sound...well, youthful.

Kakashi considered pretending that he hadn't heard his longtime friend just to rile him up but he was in a good mood, "Oh hey Gai, I'm doing rather well actually," Kakashi said as he flipped the page to his little book.

Gai's eyes widened; Kakashi was never in a 'good' mood! He was always either in a 'meh' or 'fine' mood! Something must have happened for his eternal rival to be in an exceptional mood!

"What happened?" Gai asked as he fell in step with Kakashi.

"I'm training Naruto," he said simply and chuckled when he saw Gai's surprised and worried look, "with the Hokage's permission of course," he added.

Gai stopped moving for several seconds, even though Kakashi kept on moving, before he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOW YOUTHFUL OF THE HOKAGE-SAMA!" he yelled as tears ran down his cheeks.

Gai ignored the crazy looks he got from the civilians and caught up to Kakashi, "But why now? He would only let you be Naruto-kun's guard before," Gai asked in confusion.

"I threatened to resign," was all Kakashi said as he gave his rival an eye smile.

He nearly laughed when he saw Gai's jaw drop in shock and before he even had to ask, Kakashi quickly explained the situation to him.

Gai didn't interrupt once during Kakashi's explanation, a rare occurrence for him. Once Kakashi finished he nodded in understanding.

"So you have to make young Naruto-kun eligible to take the genin exam in a single year," he said in a serious tone. That was no easy task; there was a reason that the academy was a four year program.

Kakashi nodded, "Yep, and I have to do it while doing five missions a month," Kakashi said with a hint of a sigh. It certainly would be a challenge but Kakashi was sure that he could complete it.

Suddenly Gai gave him his signature nice guy pose, his teeth even sparkled in the dying sun's light, "How about I help you train young Naruto-kun when you're off youthfully helping out the village?" He said in a youthful tone.

Kakashi seemed to think about the offer for a brief few seconds. Could he do that, he wondered? The Hokage never said anything about him not getting help to train Naruto so it technically wasn't against the rules.

It would be a serious help too! He didn't know if he could trust Naruto to keep up his own training yet. It would also mean that he wouldn't have to worry as much about Naruto's taijutsu since Konoha's number one taijutsu expert was teaching him.

Kakashi gave Gai an eye smile, "That would be a help," he said and Gai began to shout about the youthfulness of gaining a student.

* * *

Naruto crawled into bed, his entire body ached but he was glad for the weariness. It meant that he was getting stronger already!

Not only was he getting stronger but he had learned to walk up freakin' walls! How cool was that? He didn't even know something like that existed or could be done with chakra!

He had asked Kakashi about what else chakra could do and he found out that after he mastered tree walking than he would learn how to walk on water! What could possibly be cooler than that?

Naruto grinned as he stared up at his ceiling. He had been a little cautious around Kakashi at first but now Naruto could honestly say that the masked ninja was now his second favorite person, Jiji being number one of course.

The man seemed to genuinely care about him and his goal and Naruto didn't want to let him down.

That was the reason he forced himself up and practiced tree walking on his walls.

**That's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**

**Tell me what I did right and what I did wrong and any neat ideas you have for this story!  
**

**Also, a big thank you to savethetub, who's a good friend of mine in real life, for helping me come up with the idea for this story and letting me borrow a few elements from his.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the support! Also, thank you to savethetub for leading so many people to my story, though you did make me sound like a whiny girl but that's okay. I had three reviews, one favorite and two follows before you posted the notice and now I'm at 202 reviews, 330 favorites and 452 follows.**

**If you have questions or concerns either send me a PM or leave a review and I'll do my best to answer.**

Kakashi yawned as he walked through the village. He looked worse for wear; his clothing was ripped and torn in half a dozen placed, his hair had been singed by a stray fire jutsu, he walked with a small limp and blood was beginning to leak through the rough patch he had placed on his arm.

He ignored the frightened and confused looks that he got from the villagers and the puzzled ones he received from shinobi. He had just returned from his seventh mission this month. He had been reluctant because it was a week long mission but after he read the details he had packed without a second thought.

Long story short; Kakashi rescued a princess and broke the backbone of the military that was attempting a coup in the country.

So, in the end, it was worth being away for a week but he did have a few concerns. Counting that mission, he was gone for nearly three weeks this month. He only got a few assassination missions and the rest lasted a few days each.

He had left Naruto with Gai. While he wasn't concerned that Gai wasn't keeping up with Naruto's training, the green clad ninja was a training nut himself so that wouldn't happen. No, he had other concerns, far, far, far bigger concerns.

Concerns big enough that he was heading straight for training ground seven instead of the hospital, like he needed to.

What was his concerns you might ask?

What kind of influence Gai would have on Naruto's impressionable young mind.

Kakashi shook the thought of a green spandex wearing five year old Naruto out of his mind as he picked up his speed. He wouldn't let that happen. Things were bad enough with one Gai; if he managed to make a clone than the world would surely end.

Kakashi had nearly arrived at the usual training grounds a few minutes later. He was still maintaining his brisk walk, he couldn't go faster because of his leg, but he heard something that made his heart drop.

"YOUTH!" A deep voice yelled out the word into the forest. The word seemed to reverberate throughout the forest.

However, that wasn't what frightened Kakashi so. That wasn't what caused anxiety and fear to crash over him.

What caused it was when the forest had finally become silent again, when the word youth finally left the woods, he heard it.

"Youth!" yelled a significantly higher pitched voice. It wasn't high pitched enough to be a woman's voice...no...the voice belonged to a child.

_'Not on your life Gai!'_ Kakashi mentally swore as he ignored the pain in his leg and ran towards the clearing.

He wouldn't let it happen! He wouldn't let Gai corrupt sensei's son! He wouldn't let Gai corrupt his little brother!

"More body Naruto-kun! To truly sound youthful, you must use your entire body! Like this!"

"YOOOOUTH!"

There was a small pause, Kakashi could practically see Naruto trying to copy Gai.

"YOU-"

Kakashi emerged from the forest and skidded to a halt, dust flying around him as he eyed the two in the clearing.

Gai was looking at him with a wide eyed and what could only be described as guilty expression.

Naruto was looking at him with a similar expression, having been cut off in the middle of his best try at sounding youthful. After a few seconds passed, his surprised look dropped and a smile replaced it.

"Kakashi-nii!" Naruto yelled in excitement before he quickly crossed the clearing and jumped at the masked ninja. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. He hadn't told Naruto of his would be relationship with him. It had been something that Naruto himself decided to call him and Kakashi thought it was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

He could finally look sensei in the eyes when he reached the afterlife and tell him that Naruto was his little brother. He could finally say that he had a real family.

"Hey there Naruto, how's training been?" Kakashi asked as he gave the boy a eye smile.

The boy grinned up at him, "I did really good! I learned a new kicking technique today and a bunch more stuff since you were g-your hurt," Naruto started in a excited tone, eager to tell his big brother his progress but stopped when he saw the blood leaking though Kakashi's bandages.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "Yeah, I'm a bit more roughed up than normal," he admitted as he allowed Naruto to sit him down.

Naruto took out a scroll from his pocket and unfurled it. Seals covered the parchment, fuinjutsu being a favorite of Naruto's.

He decided to take up the art due to his mother and his clan. His clan had been known for their sealing prowess and his mother had been a renowned master at fuinjutsu. He wanted to honor his mother by becoming a fuinjutsu master as well.

Unlike most shinobi skills, fuinjutsu wasn't measure by being a genin level or a jonin level. How good you were was judged by what rank you were on a scale from one to ten, ten being a master.

Naruto was currently hovering just above level two. He only knew how to make storage scrolls, the most basic of seals, and knew a few theories for a few more.

Neither Kakashi nor Gai knew that was the reason behind Naruto's passion behind the art. Gai chalked it up to Naruto's spirit of youth and Kakashi thought Naruto was drawn to it due to genetics.

Naruto unsealed band-aids from the scroll and immediately began placing them on Kakashi's wound. He didn't need them since he healed fast; something he had previously thought was because of the bandages. He had heard a parent telling his child that band-aids made a scratch heal faster and he believed it.

Now he knew that he healed fast because of either his Uzumaki genetics, a clan known for their longevity, or the kyuubi sealed inside of him. Perhaps it was both, but the point was Kakashi needed the band-aids more than he.

Kakashi glared at Gai as Naruto began placing shrunken covered band-aids on his arm, his gaze telling him he knew exactly what Gai was trying to do.

Gai did the unyouthful thing and averted Kakashi's gaze before changing the subject before Kakashi could start it, "Naruto-kun had made significant progress in the past eight months!" he commented with passion.

It had been nearly a year since Gai and Kakashi began training Naruto had he made nothing short of astounding progress in that time.

Naruto just seemed to absorb any knowledge they gave him like a sponge and was eager for more.

Despite being only five he was high genin level in taijutsu. That was due to Gai's influence, the most Kakashi would allow. Naruto would constantly push himself to improve his taijutsu since it was Gai's specialty.

While Naruto didn't call Gai his older brother; the eccentric ninja took the place of third in Naruto's favorite people. Not only did Gai not look at him coldly but he also encouraged him to improve!

So, Naruto promised himself that he wouldn't disappoint Gai.

He was also solid genin physically as well. He had adopted Gai's habit of constantly adding consequences if he failed to do something. He had even started joining Gai whenever the green clad ninja lost one of his challenges.

So his speed was roughly mid genin and his physical strength was low genin. Naruto had begged for weights to improve that but both Kakashi and Gai shot him down because they didn't want to stunt his growth. Perhaps they would give him a resistance seal after he became a genin but not now.

Naruto's genjutsu was at a halt. Due to his strict training and his additional training that he did, Naruto's reserves were growing at an alarming rate. He did keep up with his chakra control training, but he wasn't making any real progress until recently.

He had mastered tree walking in a few weeks, something that surprised his sensei's; they were positive it would take months! He had also mastered water walking as well, Naruto was now trying to find ways to make the exercise more difficult.

He did it in a number of ways; he would carry weights as he water walked, have Kakashi and Gai spar him or throw blunt kunai. While he still couldn't stick a leaf to his forehead, he was slowly making he was there.

While Naruto couldn't preform any genjutsu, he could break out of anything that was below a C-rank and a few C-ranked as well. While that did exceed the academy standards, Naruto's senseis both decided that Naruto would have to improve in the field.

He didn't notice anything that wasn't glaring; that was the problem. The genjutsu that you don't see are the ones you need to worry about.

Ninjutsu was where Naruto thrived. When he found out that Kakashi knew a thousand jutsu, he threw himself in the art.

He could make a solid henge, recreating a B-ranked infiltration jutsu, and do the kawarimi perfectly. He couldn't do the clone jutsu but that was fine since Naruto knew the shadow clone jutsu.

Kakashi decided to teach the jutsu to Naruto about two months ago. Kakashi would have waited longer but he decided to when he concluded that Naruto wasn't going to use the shadow clones as a crutch.

Both Gai and Kakashi had been quite surprised at Naruto's, as Gai would say, youth. They trained Naruto ragged, not only out of necessity but because Naruto kept asking for more. Every time they thought they found Naruto's limit, the child simply got back up and asked for seconds.

Both Gai and Kakashi were impressed with Naruto's tenacity so they began to add more and more to Naruto's training in addition to using shadow clones.

Naruto couldn't spam the clones, yet, but he could make a twenty-three and still continue with training for a full day. Twenty was the max they allowed Naruto to make, since twenty-three would have bothered Kakashi, and he wasn't allowed to use the clones when they weren't supervising him.

They didn't know how the memory backlash would affect Naruto's mind since he was so young. They had been reassured by medics that as long as Naruto kept the numbers small, he should be fine.

However, Kakashi didn't know if he trusted the word of someone that potentially could have it out for his little brother.

Naruto could also perform a few low ranked wind jutsus and a fire jutsu. The fire jutsu wasn't anything special; it actually wasn't even made for battle. It was a nameless fire starting jutsu but Naruto had taken to calling it Fire Release: Bonfire.

His wind jutsu included Wind Release: Wind Hammer and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Wind Hammer worked on the same idea of Great breakthrough; a large, powerful, dense wall of wind hitting it's target, the only real difference was that it was more focused.

That and instead of blowing your opponents away; it made them go splat.

While the jutsu were technically C-ranked, the better Naruto got with them the higher ranked they would be; but for now they were still C-ranked.

Unlike Naruto's other skills, most of which were at genin level, Naruto's stealth and infiltration skills were already at low chunin level. It had been a major surprise for the to jonin because when they told Naruto that they were playing hide and seek, to test his stealth, it took them nearly an hour to find Naruto.

What more, on several occasions, he had lured them into false leads and pranked them.

Both men had been surprised at that but it made sense when they thought who was tutoring Naruto in stealth.

Naruto had also taken up kenjutsu as well, another way to honor his mother. However, he was still too small to use a full sized katana so they gave him a tanto until he grew. He was given a scroll that held instructions for the Dancing Whirlpool style.

From what he understood, it was the kenjutsu style that all Uzumaki's used. It focused on the idea of using circular momentum and using your opponent's force against them. It was mainly a defensive style but Naruto knew a sister style for offense existed.

So, in short, Naruto was ready to take the genin exam but Kakashi was the one that was holding him back. Even though Kakashi was the one who got them started on this path, he wanted Naruto to stay as a child for as long as he could; even if it was just one more day. Kakashi knew what it was like to be a child thrust into the world of shinobi.

He knew it was unavoidable but he would push it back as much as he could. Plus, it would give Naruto that much more time to prepare.

Naruto grinned, "Yeah I have!" he said proudly. He worked really hard during the past months and he could feel himself getting stronger every day!

Then he remembered something.

"Gai-sensei was teaching me a really cool technique today!" He said in excited tone, causing Gai to go rigid.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow, "Oh? What was it?" Kakashi asked in a knowing tone as he sent Gai a glance.

"It was really cool! He was teaching me about the Springtime of Youth! He even said I could get an outfit like his!" Naruto exclaimed happily. Gai had been talking up his signature outfit the past month and promised Naruto that he could get an orange one.

Kakashi gave the boy a pat on the head, a habit he had developed, as he stood up, "Well, that was very nice of him," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

He looked down at Naruto, "I think you've trained enough for one day; why don't you go find your nee-chan?" Kakashi offered the boy.

He didn't need to see what was about to happen.

Naruto's eyes drew together in concern, "But you're hurt..." he protested weakly as he glanced at Kakashi's band-aid covered arm.

"Don't worry about me, both me and Gai will be heading to the hospital after this,"

* * *

Naruto walked through the entrance to the torture and interrogation department. He didn't even need to sign in because he had become a bit of a regular in the past few months.

Not because he was here to be tortured or even learn how to; he was here to visit his nee-chan.

Naruto walked through the thankfully silent halls, he figured that they must have been using a privacy seal...or maybe it was a muting seal? He'd make sure to ask nee-chan.

He walked past a few ninjas, some gave him an odd look; after all what was a five-year old doing in the T&I department? However, others, that knew Naruto, pointed him in the direction he needed to go.

Naruto made sure to thank them. If he was going to be Hokage than he wanted to make as many friends in the village as he could!

He arrived at the lounge and opened the door, "Nee-chan?" Naruto asked into the room. He saw her in an instant, she was kinda hard to miss with her purple hair tied up so it looked like a pineapple and her revealing clothing.

Anko looked over at the door way and grinned like a loon when she saw Naruto. She had talked to Ibiki about a recent prisoner that had come in and her plans to break him but stopped mid sentence when she saw Naruto.

"Naru-chan!" she called out as the boy ran at her and she swept him up in a hug, she even did a twirl.

Ibiki looked at the display with a raised eyebrow. The two of them did that every time they saw each other since they met about four months ago.

**FLASHBACK**

Naruto was walking through the village in boredom. He had finished training for that day and was at a loss for what to do.

He was going to train again when he got home of course but he wanted to do something other than training right now. It seemed that all he did was train and he wanted to do something different for a change!

Naruto sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Unlike before, his clothes actually fit! Kakashi had brought him to a clothes shop and bought him a couple sets of clothes!

He had even went as far as bring Naruto food! While Naruto never had trouble getting his hands on food; it was getting good quality food that was the problem. Vendors would give him the spoiled fruits and meats so Naruto couldn't reach a healthy weight because he was throwing out half of everything that he bought.

He smiled softly as he felt the soft cotton and as he remembered how Kakashi had stood up for him to the mean vendors and store owners. While a lot of what happened went over his head, he understood that Kakashi was a badass and the vendors were afraid of him enough that they stopped mistreating him.

However, his smile soon dropped when he looked up sharply when he heard a loud smack.

"Get your hands off me asshole!" A purple haired kunoichi yelled as she stood over the man she had just smacked. The two were in middle of the street and everyone stopped to see what was going on.

The man held his cheek as he spat on the ground, "What do you expect me to do when you're dressed like a whore?" the man shot back. However, his speech was so slurred it sounded more like, "Wha da'ya shpect ma to da shen ya' dreshed like awhore?!"

Naruto looked at the scene but quickly dismissed it from his mind. He saw disputes like this often since he was given his apartment in the red light district.

However, as Naruto was walking away, intending to forget all about it, but stopped when he heard the whispers. The whispers that had followed him his entire life.

"Look at her..."

"Snake whore..."

"Traitor..."

"...disappear."

Naruto froze mid-step as he looked around and he saw them.

The stares.

The cold and harsh stare. The look that denied you of your right to exist. The eyes that said you were nothing and were worth less.

He_ hated_ that look.

Naruto turned his eyes to the kunoichi; was she a jinchuuriki like him? No, that couldn't be. The only biju that attacked Konoha was the kyuubi. Not only that but the whispers were different. They didn't call her a demon or an abomination.

The kunoichi seemed to take it in stride; well that how it looked to others. But Naruto saw the loneliness in her eyes. The isolation...

Naruto felt rage boil in his small chest and before he even knew what he was doing he yelled, "HEY SHITHEADS!" at the top of his lungs. Naruto wanted to blink in surprise but he was to angry to wonder where the outburst had come from.

As everyones gaze turned towards him, the kunoichi's included, Naruto planted his feet and yelled to the heavens, "I'M THE PARIAH OF THIS VILLAGE, GOT IT?! NOT HER! SO IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT SOMEONE LIKE THAT THEN IT'S GONNA BE ME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping the whole village would hear him.

He meant the words with the very essence of his soul. He wouldn't let anyone else experience that look. He wouldn't let anyone else experience the loneliness he had suffered his entire life.

If anyone had to suffer like that; it would be him. He was use to it and he had found people that he cared about so he could bear it. He could bear this villages hate and anger so no one else would have to.

Everyone looked at him in surprise before they quickly sneered and began to disperse. They could handle being in the snake whores and demon brats presence separately but together was unbearable.

As they dispersed Naruto yelled at them to spread the word, telling them that Naruto Uzumaki was the only pariah of the village hidden in the leaves. If you're going to be something, might as well be proud of it.

As the crowed began to disperse, Anko looked at Naruto with shock still written all over her face. No once has anyone ever stood up for her like that. She had been treated like trash since she stepped foot in this village again because of her sensei.

The monster had abandoned her, telling her she wasn't worth having around anymore, before he placed his curse mark on her.

She was found at one of his bases without any memories of the three years she had spent with her sensei. He said they were on a training trip but turns out he had left the village and brought unknowing her with him.

After being brought back and cleared for not knowing anything, she had been released into the village. She had treated poorly to say the least. People whispering her name in distaste, calling her the snake whore.

However, instead of letting them get to her, she acted like she didn't care. She adopted wearing revealing clothing to tell the villagers than she didn't care what they said about her; plus, it was super useful in a fight. The more the enemy focused on her killer body, the easier it was to kill them!

Her clothing, however, was a double edged sword because some idiots, like the one she just smacked, took it as an invitation to do what they wished. The drunken idiot for example; she had been minding her own business and the guy stumbles over, grabs a handful full of her ass and starts whispering in her ear.

While that really pissed Anko off, what always happened next she hated the most. The people would look at them and the would blame _her_. They looked at her like it was her fault, like she wanted what the idiot men tried to do to her.

When she saw those stares, she always thought how unfair it was. How she just wanted one person to call the villagers on their bull, and suddenly her wish had been granted in the form of a five year old that knew how to curse.

Many questions had raced threw her mind as Naruto proclaimed himself the pariah of this village and how he wouldn't allow another one in his turf. Who was this kid? Why did he stand up for her? Who declared themselves a pariah?

Upon further analyzes, Anko recognized him as the kyuubi jinchuuriki.

She was faintly surprised; of all the people that would stand up to her she didn't expect it to be Naruto. She had seen the boy a couple of times and he always seemed as happy as can be so she never approached him, even though she knew they were treated similarly. She didn't have a reason why she never did, she just never did.

When everyone returned to what they had been doing before, Naruto walked up the purple haired kunoichi. He felt proud of himself, he had stood up for someone! He found someone who knew what it was like to receive those stares, even though he wish he never did.

Maybe now they could be friends?!

"If those guys look at you like that again, tell me. I'll sort them out," Naruto said in a serious tone, doing his best to sound like Kakashi. The kunoichi was an adult so he thought she would like him better if he sounded like one.

Anko blinked once...than twice...before she threw her head back and roared laughter. Naruto stood there silently picking up his broken heart. Guess he should have known better...

When Anko finally calmed down, which was minutes later, she wiped a tear that was gathering in her eye, "Wow...I haven't laughed like that in a long time," she commented before she grinned down at Naruto, who was starting to walk away.

"Want to get some dango, kid?"

**FLASHBACK END**

It had been the blossoming of a beautiful sibling relationship between the two. After the event, Anko decided to start teaching Naruto everything she knew about stealth and become Naruto's third tutor.

After Anko set Naruto down, who was grinning like a loon, she asked, "So what brings ya' here Naru-chan?" She asked with a grin. She absolutely adored her new baby brother. Anko doted the boy every chance she had.

Naruto grinned up at his big sister, Anko had taken first place in his favorite, tying with Kakashi and knocking Jiji down to second. He still loved Jiji of course but he only saw him twice the past eight months but he saw Anko and Kakashi just about every day.

"I just got done with training with Gai-sensei and Kakashi-nii said I trained enough for today," Naruto reported proudly.

Anko grinned, "Oh? So you came to train with Anko-chan?" she asked in a deceivingly sweet tone.

Naruto turned white as a sheet before taking a step back. Despite becoming a bit of a training nut, Anko's training sessions were extreme to a ridiculous degree. She surpassed Gai in extreme training sessions; if that didn't tell you anything than nothing would.

Anko trained Naruto's stealth, infiltration and sabotaging abilities. She trained them in a number of different ways but her favorite was telling Naruto to hide somewhere in the village and she would seek him out.

Except when she found him, she would send her snakes after the poor boy.

So Naruto's ability to stay hidden was rapidly improving.

Another favorite of hers was to order Naruto to break into somewhere, mostly dango shops so she could get some, and have him sabotage the place, because they cut her off until she paid her tab. He would fill wherever he went with traps, nonlethal of course, and pranks.

When she went to the bakeries or stores and if they hadn't been messed with enough that they cancelled her tabs, she would chase Naruto around with her snakes.

Another way she trained his infiltration by having him sneak into places that he wasn't supposed to be. It could be anywhere from sneaking into the Hokage's office and planting a whoopee cushion or him sneaking into the woman's bathhouse and stealing panties.

Oddly enough, Naruto had more trouble breaking into the bathhouse than he did the Hokage's office.

If he didn't preform these pranks or crimes in a timely manner; she would chase him with her snakes.

The training also sharpened another skill if Naruto was caught; the skill to lie.

Anko had to say that Naruto was a natural at it, even if he didn't like it. When he had been caught in the woman's bathhouse, he acted like a lost child looking for his mother. Instead of murdering the male, like they would do to any other regardless of their age, the women cooed over Naruto.

Naruto didn't even know how dangerous a situation he got himself out off; at least he wouldn't for a few more years.

Naruto took another step back as he began to sweat nervously, while he loved Anko-nee, her training was something he could do without.

"I-I-I don't think so nee-chan, I think I'm good with stealth right now," Naruto protested weakly. He was too nervous to lie smoothly.

Anko raised an eyebrow, "Good with stealth? If I remember correctly, you were caught the last time you broke into the bakery," she said in a thoughtful tone. She remembered vividly because she had been craving dango...more than usual!

However, it hadn't been Naruto's fault he had been caught. The owner hired genin to guard the bakery. Naruto got past them no problem but he had been caught by the jonin.

Anko was proud too because when he was caught he didn't sell her out! That would have been a pain to deal with.  
Naruto gulped audibly, "But I haven't been caught a bunch of times," he defended.

Anko lowered her eyebrow and raised her other, "Like when?"

Naruto panicked, the thought of having to train his stealth getting to him, "I stole from the library before and didn't get caught!" He blurted. Technically it was the truth because Kakashi had been the one that caught him and he still had the books.

Anko gasped in fake surprise, "You stole from the library?" she said with a grin in her voice. She knew about the library incident due to Kakashi but she felt like teasing Naruto. While Naruto was very astute for a child his age, he wasn't a match for Anko's ability to deceive.

Naruto grinned as he relaxed, it seems that his achievement had appeased Anko for the time being, "Yeah! I stole a bunch of books!" he proclaimed proudly as he crossed his arms over his little chest.

It took all of Anko's willpower not to 'aww' at the sight.

"You fiend!" she accused suddenly, jabbing a finger in the child's face, causing him to jump in surprise, "I should call the police!" she exclaimed loudly.

She went to go walk out the door but was stopped by Naruto throwing himself at her and gripped her leg, "Don't Anko-nee! I don't wanna go to jail!" he exclaimed as he looked up at his big sister, activating his secret jutsu.

Secret Art: Puppy dog eyes!

Anko smiled broadly before she picked Naruto up and squeezed him in her bosom, "Aww," she cooed, "like I could ever send your cute little butt to jail!" she exclaimed as she squeezed.

Ibiki watched all of this with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He was happy for his colleague; he could see how lonely Anko was behind her brave face.

"You do realize that he's manipulating you, right?" the scared man asked as he sipped his coffee.

Anko nodded as she continued to hold Naruto's face in her chest, "I sure do~! I'm so proud I could just smother the brat with love~" she sang happily. Naruto was years to young to try to pull the wool over her eyes!

Naruto tenses up; he had been caught! Time for plan D!

Naruto began to struggle, as if he was trying to get out of Anko's grasp but when Anko's grip remained tight, he began to relax his body. Slowly his attempts to flee died until he was completely motionless, he didn't even breath.

This was plan D; play dead.

However, instead of believing that she had actually smothered Naruto, Anko turned to Ibiki, "Would you look at that," she cooed, "Naru-chan just faked his first death~! How cute is that~?!"

Ibiki just sweat dropped.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in annoyance as he stared at the paperwork building on his desk. There seemed to endless amounts of the blasted pieces of paper! He swore for every piece he finished, ten more would replace it!

However, perhaps it was to be expected given the village hidden in the leaves current condition. They were terrifyingly weak right now.

The kyuubi attack had wiped out nearly a third of their forces. That was when they had just started recovering from the third shinobi war! So they were barely hovering over the halfway line on the population of their shinobi forces.

Not only did they loose half their forces but they lost the fourth Hokage and his wife as well. So they lost an SS ranked shinobi and a war hero, but Kushina had been the ANBU commander and an S ranked shinobi herself.

Then, when things couldn't have looked dire, he discovers that his student Orochimaru is experimenting on children! Kidnapping men, women and children from their homes for his terrible experiments.

Hiruzen didn't have the heart to kill his beloved student. He had been like a son to him for so many years that he had just let the monster walk out of the village with a number of his pawns. He regretted not splitting the snakes head open now but the past was the past.

Jiraiya-kun was outside of the village maintaining his spy network. It would be unlikely that his student would be able to return anytime soon due to the villages precarious position. There were simply too many threats that they needed to know about for Jiraiya to return.

His other student, Tsunade, had all but abandoned the village. After loosing her lover in the third shinobi war, Tsunade had left the village claiming that she would never return. Hiruzen let her use her title as a Sannin to travel around the world so he wouldn't have two students that were missing-nins.

So not only was Konoha only at half strength, but they had lost a hokage, several big names that gave their village much protection and revenue and another big name was indisposed for several years.

It was honestly a wonder why none of the larger villages, or even a smaller village, attempted to invade. He figured it was because they still had their title as strongest village and they were allied with Suna.

However, Hiruzen knew that wouldn't protect them forever. Sooner rather than later, someone was going to peek behind the curtain and see that Konoha wasn't as tough as it let on.

That's why he needed Naruto to become a shinobi quickly. While he despised the thought of turning a boy he thought as his own grandson into a war deterrent, he had no choice.

He was a Kage first and a grandfather second. He had failed that duty when he let his traitorous student live but he wouldn't fail a second time.

Even as it broke his heart to do so; he needed Naruto to fulfill his duty as a jinchuuriki and become powerful enough to protect the village.

That wasn't saying that he was going to turn the lovable boy into a mindless tool like Danzo wanted. No, he needed Naruto to become a powerful enough shinobi that other villages would think twice before attacking.

_'Ah, that reminds me,'_ Hiruzen thought as he dug in one of his drawers and pulled out a scroll. It was a report from Kakashi about Naruto's progress.

Hiruzen had to say that either Kakashi, Gai and Anko were incredible teachers or Naruto was just one hell of a student.

The boy has made amazing progress in the past eight months. The boy seemed to have inherited the best from both of his parents.

He inherited his fathers intelligence, polite demeanor and talent. He also inherited much from his mother as well; he got his confidence and never give up attitude from her.

While Naruto's personality was more like his fathers, Naruto had flashes of his mothers personality at times. He seemed to have especially inherited her fiery rage when angered but lucky for the village of Konoha, he also had his fathers long fused temper and forgiving nature.

Hiruzen smiled lightly as he envisioned Naruto's future; a future where his hat rested on Naruto's head.

* * *

Naruto walked through the forest as he hummed to himself. Turns out that Anko-nee was to busy too train Naruto at that moment and let him off the hook for that day. He knew that when Anko-nee was "busy" she was torturing people.

That thought made him kinda queasy. He understood that his nee-chan did a very important duty to protect the village but he didn't like it. He didn't like that his nee-chan had to hurt people in order to protect the village. He understood that the ninjas wouldn't give the secrets up willingly but he didn't like the fact that they were tortured. They were just trying to protect their homes and their friends and Konoha was hurting them. So, in this case, Konoha were the bad guys...he didn't like that at all.

Naruto shook the thoughts from his head and continued his humming. He didn't want to think about those depressing things!

No, Naruto wanted to think about happy things; like how in the past eight months, his life took a major turn to for the better. He had a had a bunch more friends now! He had Anko-nee and Kakashi-nii and Gai-sensei!

He was running out of fingers on his hand to count all of his friends on!

Naruto smiled happily as he thought of his new family, completely lost in his thoughts in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he wasn't alone in a clearing of a forest.

Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the whizzing sound of a kunai. He looked over and leaned back far enough that he fell on his butt to dodge the incoming piece of metal that would have hit him in the neck.

Naruto blinked in surprise as he heard the sound of clanging metal and looked over. When he did, he saw a single teenager standing on top of a rock, which surprised him because he thought people were fighting.

Suddenly a tic mark formed on Naruto's head; what in the heck was this guy thinking?! Didn't he look where he threw his kunai?! He could have died!

"You jerk," Naruto yelled, surprising the teen greatly, "you almost killed me!" he accused as he pointed at him, Naruto noted that his would be murder was wearing a high collared shirt with a red and white fan on the back.

_'An Uchiha,'_ Naruto deduced. He was familiar with the clan because most of the shinobi that didn't like him were from the Uchiha clan. They never outright abused him but they never seriously pursued the ones that did or tried to.

Naruto tensed as the teen turned around; Naruto saw that his Sharingan wasn't activated and he had lines that started at his eye and ended near his nose. Naruto didn't know if it was a birthmark or what but it made him look older than thirteen.

Itachi Uchiha blinked in surprise as he saw that he was no longer alone in his training spot and mentally cursed. He hadn't even noticed Naruto's presence, how was he supposed to be ANBU when he hadn't even noticed a child?

Itachi didn't respond to Naruto's outrage verbally but pointed behind him. With a confused scowl, Naruto looked behind him and the expression dropped when he noticed that there was a giant target behind him.

"Ohh..." he muttered, sending Itachi an apologetic glance.

Itachi smiled lightly showing Naruto that he forgave him for yelling, "What are you doing here?" he asked in a stoic but kind tone.

While Itachi did enjoy the presence of children, he was awkward around them.

Naruto was slightly suspicious of the Uchiha, while Itachi hadn't done anything to deserve it. Becoming defensive around a Uchiha was second nature to Naruto.

"I just finished my training and wanted to take a walk," he said keeping his voice as even as he could. He had been schooled by Kakashi that he needed to be calm and collected before, during and after a fight. That way his opponent couldn't use his emotions against him.

Itachi's eyebrow raised lightly, "Training," he repeated in an even tone but there was a question in the word.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to become a ninja at the end of the year," he explained. While Naruto didn't know about the Hokage and Kakashi's agreement, it was a goal Naruto decided for himself.

Kakashi-nii had been a genin at five and he would take the exam before his sixth birthday, which was three months away.

Despite Itachi's collected nature, he clenched his jaw, though it was hidden by his high collar. This was the part of the shinobi world that he loathed. How could they make children fight? To murder and steal?

However, Itachi quickly schooled his emotions, "That's very impressive for someone your age," he complimented in a pleasant tone.

Naruto allowed himself to smile lightly, "Thanks! I've been training really hard for like a year now," he said casually. His training from nee-chan told him to act at ease; it would put his opponent off guard.

Again, Itachi felt anger but he did not show it, "I see," he said somewhat awkwardly, not knowing what to say, "would you like to spar then?" he asked.

He knew Kakashi had been training Naruto for a while now. Kakashi would often brag about his little brothers progress and how he was a genius of epic proportions. He was curious as to what Kakashi and Gai had taught Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened, he hadn't expected that...but he couldn't say he didn't want to. He wanted to know how he would stack up against a genin.

After all, the teenager was nine so wasn't likely anything higher.

Naruto grinned in honest eagerness, "Sounds fun!" he said as Itachi jumped down from his rock and the walked to the other side of the clearing.

Itachi took out a kunai, "When this hits the ground, that means start," he said before he tossed the kunai high in the air.

5

Naruto adjusted his footing.

4

Itachi got into the interceptor fist stance.

3

Naruto swallowed as his hand neared his weapons pouch.

2

Itachi took a calming breath.

1

The kunai hit the ground and both boys began.

Naruto reached into his weapons pouch and threw half a dozen shuriken at his opponent. He was testing the waters like Kakashi told him too.

Itachi didn't even blink as he pulled out a kunai and deflected the incoming shuriken before he turned it around and threw it at Naruto. Naruto dodged this kunai before he sprinted at the Uchiha.

The teenager and the child engaged in a taijutsu match. Itachi played defensively, trying to get an idea of Naruto's level. That left the offensive for Naruto but because of the height difference, he had to jump to attack at the teens face and torso.

Naruto threw a punch but it was caught by Itachi; thinking fast, Naruto threw a roundhouse kick but that was blocked by Itachi throwing up his arm. Naruto kicked off of Itachi and jumped backwards, thinking that Itachi was good.

Naruto skid backwards and reached into his weapon pouch and once again threw shuriken at the Uchiha, but this time he quickly flew through the hand-signs and thought, '_Wind Release: Great Breakthrough_!'

Naruto was taught not to yell out his technique. It didn't make it any stronger and it told his opponent how to counter attack.

A large wall of wind blasted from Naruto's palm when he thrust it towards Itachi. The wind from Naruto's jutsu not only sped up his shuriken considerably but it also had a large area of damage

Again, Itachi's face gave no emotion as he quickly kawarimied with a log and was teleported into the safety of the tree tops. Despite his calm look, he was rather impressed with Naruto. He knew that he couldn't have preformed a C-ranked jutsu like that when he was five or be clever enough to combine his ninja tools with it.

As Naruto looked around for Itachi, the Uchiha shunshined behind the boy, intending to place a kunai at his throat to end the match but the moment he appeared Naruto's sixth sense kicked in and he turned around.

To Itachi's surprise, albeit a small measure of surprise, he saw a scroll in one of Naruto's hands and with a poof of smoke, a tanto appeared in his other. The boy swung with the tanto as he turned, causing Itachi to jump back.

Itachi rose an eyebrow when he saw that Naruto wasn't pursuing him. It only took him a moment to figure out why.

_'He only has a defensive style,'_ Itachi concluded. Kakashi wouldn't teach Naruto an offensive style right off the bat, he would first teach Naruto how to defend before he taught him to attack.

Itachi drew another kunai and charged Naruto, he wanted to see what type of style his senpai had taught Naruto.

As Itachi charged, Naruto got in his stance and instead of jumping to the side, he deflected the incoming stab. Then he turned on the balls of his heels and did a rapid spin and attempted to slice Itachi in half with the momentum he built up.

However, Itachi saw this and quickly dropped his arm and did a handspring over Naruto's blade and away from the five-year old boy.

Itachi grinned lightly with approval, Naruto was good, great for his age but he was certainly at genin level.

While Itachi didn't like violence, he did appreciate a strong enemy and one day, Naruto was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

"Very good, while your stance has a few holes in it, you're very talented with a blade," Itachi complimented.

Naruto grinned, he was enjoying the spar and was starting to like Itachi. He didn't seem to be like the rest of his clan.

"You haven't seen nothing yet," he proclaimed as he stuck his sword in the ground and began flying through hand-signs, '_Wind Release: Wind Hammer_!' Naruto thought before he slammed the bottom oh his fist into his palm.

Itachi, having recognized the hand-signs, dove out of the way before air suddenly condensed over his head and slammed to the ground, creating a crater.

Wind wasn't known as the most versatile element for nothing!

As Itachi rolled back up he saw that Naruto was running at him again, tanto in hand. Naruto seemed to have become over confident in his abilities as he made a couple of wild slashes at Itachi, all of which the teen dodged easily before Itachi caught Naruto's wrist and tossed him to the side.

Naruto rolled while silently apologizing to Kakashi for he was about to break his rule.

As Naruto stood on his feet, his scroll already in hand before he activated the seal and his free hand was filled with kunai before he started throwing.

Itachi narrowed his eyes in suspicion, Naruto had to have known that ninja tools wouldn't work on him. Then again Naruto was, for all intents and purposes, a child; so maybe he was just being stubborn?

Itachi began deflecting kunai with one of his own, Naruto's falling all around him. Itachi silently praised Naruto's accuracy; all of his groupings were tight and he didn't seem to have to much trouble aiming at a moving target.

Naruto began to gradually slow his throwing, his arm was begging to tire and he was running out of ninja weapons to throw. When Naruto finally stopped, kunai surrounded Itachi, who looked slightly bored.

"Are you done," he asked but his tone wasn't mocking. The boy seemed to have enough kunai to fill a store!

However, Naruto grinned, "Not quite yet," he said before he yelled, "GET HIM!"

Without warning, the kunai surrounding Itachi suddenly morphed into Naruto's before they all leapt on Itachi, causing Itachi's eyes to widened in surprise.

_'Shadow clones? But how did he...'_ Itachi thought in surprise but, like always, soon figured it out, '_he henged his clones into ninja weapons; not just a normal henged either, a solid henge! But how? I doubt he can make seal-less shadow clones so how did he manage to make and henge so many clones?'_ Itachi wondered.

Then Itachi realized that he couldn't see Naruto's hands when he was rolling away. During that brief window, Naruto took out his scroll, created, henged and sealed the clones in it!

If Itachi hadn't been impressed before than he certainly was now! He never would have suspected Naruto to know shadow clones nor be cunning enough to think of such a clever strategy!

From what he saw Naruto was most certainly at genin level in terms of abilities but he was possibly a low chunin threat considering how clever the boy was.

However, that didn't mean Naruto had won this spar of theirs.

Itachi kawarimied with the real Naruto, he was vulnerable since he had let his guard down, and now he was the one looking at him as clones dog piled on their creator.

With a rather large poof of smoke, the clones disappeared and exposed a disgruntled looking Naruto. He thought he had won! He had Itachi pinned down and everything!

Naruto sighed sadly, "I guess I'm not strong enough to take the exam yet..." he muttered unhappily.

Itachi chuckled softly, "Perhaps," he said in a kind tone. He didn't want Naruto to get a big head because he had done well.

"What will you do?" he asked, trying to get an idea of what kind of child Naruto was and what type of shinobi he would be. While he had heard a fair amount from Kakashi, he wanted to see Naruto's personality with his own eyes.

Naruto brushed himself off before he shot a huge grin at Itachi, "I'm going to train like a hundred times harder! If I can't then I'll train a thousand times harder!" he vowed as he gave Itachi a thumbs up.

Itachi smiled at that. Turns out what Kakashi-senpai said was true, Naruto didn't know how to give up or get discouraged.

"I was surprised that you knew wind jutsu, is that your affinity?" Itachi asked and got a nod from Naruto.

"I have a wind and a small lighting affinity but I don't know any lighting jutsu yet. Kakashi-nii said I should focus on my stronger affinity before I learn any lighting jutsu," he hadn't started elemental manipulation, and wouldn't for several years, Kakashi needed to know what kind of jutsu Naruto was best off learning.

"But I know a fire jutsu! It's only meant to start fires but I think it's cool," Naruto explained further.

Itachi nodded, all children were obsessed with learning a fire jutsu. Itachi paused for a moment and debated teaching Naruto the Fire Release: Great Fireball technique.

While Naruto didn't have a fire affinity, the jutsu would work very well with his wind affinity. The only concerns he would have were if Naruto had enough chakra and if he was responsible enough not to abuse the jutsu.

However, those weren't a problem. Naruto had used over a dozen shadow clones and Kakashi had already taught Naruto two C-ranked jutsu, the same rank as the Great Fireball technique.

He also knew Kakashi wouldn't have a problem with it. He knew about his deal with the Hokage so he needed all the help he could get, even if Naruto was already at genin level.

"If you want, I can teach you an even cooler fire jutsu," Itachi offered, getting wide eyes from Naruto.

Naruto was completely taken off guard, the offer taking him by surprise. Just about every Uchiha he had ever met were really arrogant and mean but Itachi was completely different!

A smile consumed Naruto's face, "That'd be awesome! Thank you Uchiha-sensei!" he exclaimed.

Itachi smiled again, the boys smile was infectious, "My names Uchiha Itachi," he introduced himself.

After Naruto did the same, Itachi showed Naruto the hand-signs for his families signature jutsu. Naruto memorized the hand-signs quickly and after a few practice runs he was ready for his first attempt.

'_Fire Release: Great Fireball technique_,' Naruto recited in is mind before he took a deep breath and expelled it.

The results weren't astounding. The fireball was little bigger than a basket ball and Naruto ended up choking on the smoke.

Itachi chuckled as Naruto hacked up a lung, "That was good for your first try," he couldn't respond because he was too busy coughing, but when he stopped, which was several minutes later, he was cut off by a new voice entering the field.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke asked in confusion as he entered the clearing. He was very confused and slightly jealous.

Who was the blonde boy and why was he training with_ his_ brother? Itachi always said he was to young to be a ninja but he was teaching a boy his age! That was totally unfair!

Not only that, Sasuke always complained that he didn't get spend enough time with Itachi but his big brother just poked him in the forehead and said some other time! Yet, he was spending his time with some random boy?

While Sasuke was jealous and a little angry; Sasuke trusted his brother. He was sure there was some reason why Itachi was spending time with the mostly blonde boy instead of him.

Sasuke walked into the clearing and held out a hand to Naruto, a grownups greeting, "I'm Sasuke!" he said in eager tone.

"I'm (hack, cough) Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto greeted as he shook Sasuke's hand.

"What are you doing with my brother?" Sasuke asked in a curious tone.

"We were sparing than he taught me a cool jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed and Sasuke's eyes narrowed in jealously as he shot his brother a dirty look.

"I had nearly hurt Naruto while I was training," Itachi quickly explained, "Naruto here wants to be a ninja so we spared and I taught him a jutsu as an apology,"

Sasuke's eyes widened back up and a happy grin replaced the dirty look. He was right! There was no way his older brother would lie to him like that!

"Cool! I want to be a ninja too!" Sasuke said to Naruto, thinking that they could be friends since they had that in common.

Itachi watched the two eagerly talk about shinobi, Sasuke was greatly impressed when he found out that Naruto was already training, and the three began to walk.

Sasuke and Naruto talked the entire way back to the Uchiha compound. They talked about a number of things; what kind of ninja they wanted to be, what jutsu they thought was the coolest and what ninja was the strongest of all time. Naruto and Sasuke were already fast friends by the time they reached the compound.

Sasuke asked if Naruto wanted to come inside but the blonde politely refused. While Sasuke and Itachi were nice, the rest of the Uchiha clan wasn't.

If Naruto hadn't refused than Itachi would have found a reason for him not to. Since the kyuubi attack, the Uchiha clan had been becoming more and more isolated and treated like suspects. If Naruto came over than it could look like an attempt to gain the kyuubi under their control.

Sasuke deflated but a happy smile was planted on his face, "Okay...but can we hang out sometime," he asked. He didn't have many friends and wanted to make a bunch!

A smile consumed Naruto's face as he nodded, "Yeah! I'll have to ask Kakashi-nii but I think I can tomorrow," he offered and got a nod from Sasuke.

Naruto waved goodbye after they discussed where they would meet up and he grinned to himself to the point his face hurt.

He finally couldn't count his friends on one hand!

**Hope you liked the chapter! Again thank you for all the support!**

**A few things before I go; Itachi wont be one of Naruto's sensei's, he'll just be the stick Naruto measures himself against. He'll find out that Itachi is a prodigy and similar to Naruto since neither of them wanted to be ninjas in the beginning.**

**Also, Naruto isn't anywhere near Itachi's level. If Itachi had taken the fight seriously, or even half way so, it would have lasted about two in a half seconds.**

**Next chapter will be Naruto becoming a genin and getting a few interactions with the will be rookie genin.**

**Big thank you to Dark-God-Elijah for offering to Beta this story!**

**Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone, hope you enjoy the chapter! Before you start I want to answer a question I've been getting a lot.**

**Who will Naruto be paired with and the answer to that question is...no clue. **

**I'm juggling a few ideas for the paring, right now I'm leaning to Kurotsuchi since I've been reading a few really good stories with that as the paring and now I want to write it. However, it's not set in stone.  
**

**Another I've been getting is will Naruto be on a genin team: that question will be answered next chapter.**

**How will Naruto's character develop if hes not an idiot? He's going to develop from a wide eyed innocent child to a veteran shinobi by the time cannon starts. He's still going to be Naruto but he's not going to flinch away from a harsh call.**

**When will cannon start? Again, not a clue; best guess is somewhere around chapter 15-20.**

**Now thats over with, on to the chapter!**

Naruto fell onto the ground and laid in the grass. He and Kakashi had just finished his training session for the day, which had lasted the whole day. A full twenty-four hour fight against the two.

It was an extreme version of capture the flag. Both of them had bases and a red or blue flag at the center and the goal, as you could guess, was to take the enemies flag and bring it back to your base.

Kakashi, so Naruto would get the fullest extent of the training, limited himself in the high genin to mid chunin area. That way the exercises wouldn't end within a few hours.

However, much to Naruto's displeasure, that was all he held back. He used every other dirty trick he had up his sleeve. He hadn't pulled any punches either, because, despite his healing ability, was sure he was going to be sore stiff for the next week.

Naruto wasn't the only one that was going to be feeling the effects of the spar. Training ground seven looked like a war zone. Craters were scattered around, sections of the forest were reduced to charcoal, other trees had been uprooted and splayed about, the river turned into a pond due to a rather large Wind Hammer.

It would take more than a few D-ranked missions for the training ground to return to it's former glory.

Kakashi had won the game in the end. Naruto could be only so clever to a shinobi that's been a ninja for thirteen years of his eighteen year life span. Naruto had put up a good fight, better than most genin would do, but it hadn't been enough.

Kakashi leaned over the mostly blonde child with an eye smile, blocking Naruto's view of the sky, "You seem really worn out," Kakashi commented before he took a seat next to Naruto.

Naruto didn't reply with anything other than a grunt, causing Kakashi to chuckle.

The masked ninja gave Naruto a lazy look over; noting the boys torn and wrecked clothing, making a mental note to by him more soon and another that Naruto needed a hair cut. It was starting to get a bit shaggy.

Kakashi chuckled to himself, thinking that he's become something akin to a father instead of an older brother.

"Hey...Kakashi-nii," Naruto said in a hesitant tone, "am I ready to take the genin exam?"

Kakashi looked over in lazy curiosity, this was sudden. While Naruto expressed that he wanted to become a ninja soon, Kakashi didn't think that Naruto was already thinking about becoming a genin.

They still had a few months before Naruto had to become a genin and while Kakashi did hint about Naruto taking the test soon, he never told him when he would be taking the exam.

Kakashi hummed loudly as if he was thinking deeply, in truth he wasn't. Naruto was going to pass the exam without any trouble but Naruto didn't need to know how advanced he was for his age.

It had been a problem with him as well; when Kakashi became a genin at five, people bathed him in praise and he became arrogant as he grew older. He was hoping to avoid the same thing with Naruto because it took the deaths of his friends to snap Kakashi out of that arrogance.

Naruto eagerly awaited his older brothers answer. He thought he was ready! He had been doing pretty well against Itachi, who Naruto still didn't know was officially a chunin and unofficially ANBU, so he thought he was nearing genin level.

He and Itachi sparred a few more times in the past month. Itachi had become Naruto's measuring stick; Itachi was Naruto's base line of how strong you had to be to become a genin. During those spars, he had managed to land a grand total of one unclean hit on the teen but judging from Kakashi and Gai's reactions when he told them, that was pretty good.

Because of their reactions; Naruto placed himself at just good enough to become a genin. At least in the physical aspects.

Due to Naruto's strict training in the day and his secret training sessions at night; Naruto had fallen behind in the academic field. He could answer about half of the questions when Kakashi gave him a practice test but with the higher year questions he didn't have the foggiest clue what they were talking about.

What was chakra theory? How was he supposed to know how far Timothy threw a kunai judging by the height of a tree and the position of the sun? Why did he have to know what was in a solider pill? Who cared about this crap?

When Naruto scored a 42% on the practice test he had been incredibly disappointed in himself, even though his sensei's reassured him that he had done fine. Naruto had been so disappointed in himself that he broke Kakashi's rule again and used his clones to read about the material for the higher year students.

He wasn't making much progress however, since he only used five clones, a lot of the books words were too big or an explanation was too complicated for Naruto to understand...but Naruto didn't give up! He looked up the big words and puzzled out the complicated explanations and when he took another practice test, he scored a 53%.

His sensei's had been surprised by the jump in his score and were more than a little suspicious but they let it slide. Kakashi had been a little disappointed that Naruto had broken his promise but he was proud that Naruto was using his resources to improve, even if there was a small risk.

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile, "Yeah, I think you're ready to take the exam," he admitted. Naruto would be taking it regardless in a couple of months so it didn't matter if he knew that he was ready.

Naruto grinned broadly and looked validated, he knew it! He knew he was ready!

Kakashi rose an eyebrow, noticing Naruto's expression, "You don't seem to surprised; is that why you've trained so much harder lately?" Kakashi asked in a lazy tone.

Naruto hesitated before nodding, "Yeah," he admitted, his past exhaustion forgotten due to the knowledge.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow and prompted Naruto to continue. His curiosity was intensifying. Why was Naruto suddenly training so much harder for? He briefly wondered if Naruto knew about his deal with the Hokage but dismissed the idea. Only a few knew about the deal and all that did wouldn't let it slip out around Naruto.

Naruto fidgeted, debating if he wanted to tell Kakashi his goal. Not because Naruto thought he would laugh at him but because Naruto was kinda embarrassed. While Naruto openly idolized Kakashi, it was awkward telling someone that you wanted to follow in their footsteps.

Naruto steeled himself, "Because I want to be like you!" Naruto blurted in a half shout.

At first Kakashi gave no reaction but slowly he raised his hand and patted Naruto on the head, "You shouldn't," was all he said as he softly rubbed Naruto's soft hair. His words were flat but you could hear the long, tired sigh in his voice.

Naruto drew his eyes together in confusion, he didn't know what kind of reaction he had been expecting from his nii-san but he certainly wasn't expecting that.

"What?" Naruto managed to say, he tried to look up to met Kakashi's eye but the mans head kept his head down.

Kakashi kept Naruto's head down so the boy wouldn't see the self loathing anger in his eye.

He was the last person that should be a role model, the last person Naruto should try to be like.

He had failed so many people. Obito died to save him; his best friend though he hadn't known it at the time. Because Kakashi had worshiped the rules and placed them above his friends lives, Obito died. Perhaps if Obito had gotten some sense into his head earlier or maybe if Kakashi had been a little stronger he wouldn't have his best friends eye in his skull.

What was worse; he failed to keep his promise, the promise that Obito had asked him to make on his deathbed. He failed to protect Rin; no, he had killed Rin! The girl that Obito had been in love with for only god knows how long!

He failed Obito in so many ways that night. He couldn't stop the Kiri ninja from kidnapping her, he couldn't stop them from sealing the Sanbi into her, he couldn't stop her from jumping in front of his Chidori and killing her with it!

He had killed his best friends love.

He failed sensei and Kushina-neechan, she wouldn't let him call her anything else, in so many ways. It was only in the past year had he stopped failing them but he was helping Naruto enter the shinobi world when he should be crying for toys and playing with friends in the park.

How could he count entering their son into a world of death and despair at the age of five not failing them?

Don't get Kakashi wrong; he loved training Naruto! He loved helping Naruto along his path to be Hokage, he loved the fact that Naruto saw him as his older brother and wanted to be just like him.

So, while he hadn't failed them completely, his good was just balancing out the bad.

Naruto knocked Kakashi's hand away, confusion in his eyes, "What'dya mean I shouldn't try to be like you?! You're awesome!" Naruto yelled. He was confused, why wouldn't Kakashi want him to be like him?

Kakashi sighed as he looked away, "Naruto...I've done a lot of bad things and failed a lot of people," he said as he looked into the distance, examining Naruto's man made pond.

Naruto fell silent at that. He wasn't surprised, well maybe by Kakashi failing people, but Naruto knew Kakashi had done at least a few bad things on his way to be jonin. There was simply no way that he hadn't.

However, he didn't let that knowledge change what he thought of Kakashi just like he didn't let Anko's job change his opinion of her. His adoptive siblings were the best, nothing was going to change that!

"So?! Why does that mean I can't be like you?! I've trained really hard and so I could take the exam soon!" Naruto said stubbornly as resolve burned in his eyes.

Kakashi's eye narrowed; being a shinobi for so long, he could hear Naruto's unspoken words as well as his motivations.

"You want to take the exam before you turn six," he stated and got a curt nod from Naruto, "No, it won't happen," Kakashi said in his parent tone. It had gotten considerably better in the past year.

Naruto's face fell, "W-what?" he said in a confused and upset tone. Why couldn't he take the exam? Kakashi just said that he was ready so why couldn't he take it?

"Naruto, you're a kid," Kakashi started as he ran a hand through his gravity defying hair, trying to think how to put what he had to say into words, "You've been training at an age when you should be playing, you've been practicing jutsu when you should be playing with toys.

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you for that, but Naruto, you have to understand that everything changes after you get your headband. You won't be considered a child by anyone, you'll be a solider. You'll be expected to lie, cheat, steal and kill for Konoha and if you fail the consequences might be death rather than a few bruises.

I want you to stay a kid for as long as possible. You can take the exam after you turn six but not a day before then," Kakashi finished, thinking that it didn't make a whole lot of sense that he was stopping Naruto from becoming a genin at five but okaying it at six.

However, that's was how his deal with the Hokage worked. Naruto had to take the exam a month after his sixth birthday so about three months from now. As Kakashi had said so many times before; he wanted Naruto to be a child until the last possible second.

Kakashi could see that Naruto saw the hole in Kakashi's logic and that Naruto didn't understand in the slightest. He was right to because a second later Naruto yelled, "That's stupid! I'm strong enough to be a genin, you said so! It doesn't matter how old I am! I'm not just some kid!"

Kakashi wanted to sigh loudly but he remained firm, "I said you're not taking the exam until you're six, no matter how you argue, that won't change," he said sternly as he stood up.

The walk home had been awkward after the talk; Naruto sulking and Kakashi feeling like a hypocrite. It had been one of the few times Kakashi had been forced to scold Naruto and neither enjoyed the experience.

After they had said their goodbyes, Naruto entered his apartment and crashed on his bed and sighed deeply as he felt tears sting at his eyes. However, he didn't let them fall. He wasn't some spoiled brat that would throw a fit when he didn't get something that he wanted!

Well, that's what he told himself but he couldn't stop the light sniffles. He had tried so hard! He practiced to the point he thought he was going to die just so he could become a genin at five but Kakashi-nii wasn't going to let him!

Naruto didn't understand! Why could he take the exam when he was six but not five? How did that make any sense? He wasn't going to suddenly be so much mature in a few months!

All that hard work for waste! Well, perhaps not waste but Naruto thought that they were pointless if one of his major goals couldn't be achieved.

Then a thought struck Naruto.

If ninjas lied and cheated than why didn't Naruto lie and cheat?

If he went around Kakashi-nii's back and became a ninja than it would prove that he was ready to become one and that he didn't need to stay a child! He was Naruto Uzumaki and once he set his mind on a goal than there was nothing that could stop him!

**Flash forward one month and two weeks**

Naruto's plan was nearly complete! For a month and a half he had been plotting and preparing for what was the biggest event in his young life! He had pored himself over his plan, planning every detail and making contingencies plans. He used every ounce of the knowledge and skills that Anko-nee had all but beaten into him to pull off this plan and a dangerous plan it was!

Naruto grinned slyly as he walked towards the Hokage's office. In his hands was a single slip of paper but it was the keystone in his plan.

The slip of paper was a sheet saying that he was allowed to participate in this months graduation. There was a graduation every month in the academy so they could actively turn out more shinobi that they desperately needed.

Naruto had broken into the academy again; it was surprisingly easy. Naruto figured that they thought no one would be breaking into a school.

Anyway, he broke into one of the main offices and stole a sheet stating that the bearer could participate in this months graduation even if he hadn't joined the academy. Such a thing wasn't uncommon since there were clans that chose to train their kin themselves instead of sending them to the academy.

He needed the Hokage's signature to officially start his plan and doing so was tough.

He knew jiji had become all but a master in the art of filling paperwork, he always heard him complaining about it when he saw the old man, so he had taken measures to make sure jiji would sign it.

Naruto couldn't perform genjutsu but he could preform fuinjutsu! He jumped into his studies and began learning a seal that had the same effect as genjutsu; it made something look like something else.

It had taken Naruto nearly three weeks, with the help of shadow clones, to master out every piece of the level four seal, two levels above his own. After he mastered the seal, he drew it on the back of the paper in white chalk, so jiji wouldn't see it.

Now the paper looked like a permission form for a camping trip that the academy was hosting.

Since Kakashi-nii was on a mission, Naruto told Gai that he wanted to go on it and Gai approved, spouting about how youthful camping was. As far as Gai knew, that was why Naruto would be heading to the academy tomorrow. Naruto had even gotten Gai to sign a real permission form for the camping for good measure.

He had planned everything perfectly!

Naruto entered the building and began trudging up the stairs. He wasn't nervous surprisingly. Anko-nee taught him that if he was nervous and got the jitters then he was going to get caught. That and the fact he had broken and entered so many times that things like this didn't make him nervous.

Naruto reached jiji's floor and approached his secretary, "Hi, is jiji free?" he asked her. The woman was in her mid-twenties and pretty; black hair, green eyes, pretty face and big bust.

Naruto liked the woman, even if she wasn't nice to him, she was never mean.

The woman looked down at Naruto with impassive eyes, before she nodded, "He's doing paperwork but he'd appreciate the distraction," she said before she waved him in.

Naruto thanked the woman before he entered the Hokage's office, "jiji?" he asked as he entered. He saw the Hokage sitting at his desk, as he always was, with stacks of paper piled on, that were always there.

Hiruzen was currently smoking out of his favorite pipe, the last gift that his past love had given him, and looked over at Naruto before a smile reached his lips, "Ah! Naruto-kun, what brings you here?" he asked.

mHe hadn't seen Naruto much in the past year. He had been far to busy with the villages situation to take time to visit his successors son often, though he did make sure to take a day or two to visit him.

Regardless, he hadn't seen Naruto much and was greatly puzzled but happy that Naruto had sought him out.

Naruto smiled as he entered the room, "I need you to sign this," he said as he walked to the desk and presented the Hokage the paper. His tone was casual and eager, exactly how it always was when he talked to the old man.

Hiruzen grinned as he took the paper but on the inside he grimaced, more paperwork, and examined the slip of paper before sending some chakra into it to dispel any genjutsu that might be placed on it. It was a habit he had developed over the years when someone would be so foolish to try to slip something in.

Like he suspected, nothing happened. From Kakashi's reports, Naruto was still unable to perform most genjutsus. Kakashi had theorized that Naruto might be able to use higher ranked genjutsus but that theory wouldn't be tested until after Naruto became a genin.

After noting the lack of the papers contents changing, he scanned the paper.

"So you want to go on the camping trip," Hiruzen said as he whipped out a pen and signed the paper without a second thought.

Naruto grinned broadly, "Yeah, It sounds really fun! The only time I camped before was during the war training with nii-san," he explained.

Hiruzen nodded as he handed Naruto back the paper but he didn't let go when Naruto took it. Confused, with a hint of nervousness, Naruto looked up and met the age old Hokage's eyes.

"Why did you bring this to me? You could have gotten this signed by Gai," Hiruzen questioned in a friendly but stern tone. He found it odd that Naruto would get him to sign something so mundane.

Naruto's eyes widened before he looked down at the paper, time to activate contingency plan E.

"Because...because the teachers can't say no to their boss! If Gai-sensei signed it then they might not let me come but if you did..." he said, his sad tone authentic. It really did get to him that his words were true.

Hiruzen's eyes softened, '_Naruto-kun...just how much do you really see_?' Hiruzen wondered as he let the paper go.

"I understand," he said before he gave the boy a smile but failed to give him reassuring words. What could he say to the child that had been forced to be a pariah hours after he was born? Tell him not to mind the villagers as they cursed him and spat on his name?

Naruto grinned as he took the paper, "Thanks jiji! You're the best!" he said as he scampered out of the room, leaving a sad looking old man.

Part A was complete.

**The Next Day**

Naruto tenderly held his slip of paper in his hands, careful not to crinkle it. This one piece of paper would decide if he became a genin.

Naruto was nervous and feeling guilty. He felt absolutely terrible for tricking jiji, Gai-sensei and Kakashi-nii but it was necessary and justifiable in Naruto's mind.

Naruto didn't view himself as a child. He was way more mature than kids twice his age and he never had much of a childhood to begin with. So Kakashi's protests of him needing to have a longer childhood made little to no sense in his mind.

That's why he was going behind everyone's back and taking the exam. He not only wanted to make them all proud but show them that he wasn't a kid. He was, soon to be, a shinobi! A legal adult!

Naruto shook his head of his thoughts; he needed to focus on the exam!

He entered the academy easy enough, though he did get a few odd glances and glares but he ignored them easy enough. He headed to the bathroom and went into one of the stalls and made a shadow clone.

His shadow clone would be the decoy that would actually go on the camping to Gai wouldn't be suspicious. He had given Gai the real form, that he got by going through the proper channels, for the camping trip to sign so he wouldn't call him for training today.

Naruto gave his clone it's orders and handed it the form before they separated. His clone went to room 201 while he was heading to 307.

Naruto gulped as he stood outside the room. This was the moment of truth!

He grabbed the handle and slid the door to the side, revealing a room full of preteens and a teenage chunin instructor with a scar over his nose.

Iruka looked over at the newcomer in surprise; he had just been explaining the exam to his students. They were his first class that he had ever taught and he was proud of them! There were plenty of splendid future shinobi in this class!

However, he was a little annoyed with his partner, Mizuki, who had decided to go on the lower classed students camping trip. Iruka had thought that was odd, they had an exam today but suddenly he wants to go on the camping trip?

He asked his long time friend for his reasons but Mizuki never gave him a real reason; just saying stuff like, "I have something I want to do," or, "I have my reasons,"

It annoyed Iruka but he quickly dismissed his annoyances. Mizuki was his friend and he was sure Mizuki had a good reason.

However, that meant he would be grading papers and doing evaluations on his own.

Iruka snapped out of his musings as he examined the newcomer, much to his surprise, it was a child.

"Uhh," Iruka started intelligently, "are you lost?" he asked as he set down his clipboard and walked over. The child looked so familiar but Iruka couldn't place where.

Naruto hesitated before he shook his head no and held out his piece of paper.

Iruka took it and scanned the contents and his eyes widened in surprise before they darted over to Naruto again. When he examined the boy again he noticed a few things that he had missed earlier.

Naruto's body had a slight build, thanks to a year of training, and his eyes were filled with the odd combination of innocence and suspicion.

"I-I see, well then take a seat next to Hana, the one with red triangles on her cheeks," he said as he pointed, thinking that if the Hokage thought that Naruto was ready to take the genin exam than the boy must have been a prodigy.

Whispers broke out as Naruto took his seat next to the girl called Hana, who was giving him an odd look. The entire class was wondering the same thing, what was this kid doing here?

Naruto took his seat as he shot a confident grin at Hana, "Hi, I'm Naruto," he said and got a small nod from the Inuzuka.

"Hana," she greeted with a small smile. While she didn't have the foggiest why Naruto was here, the kid was cute like nothing else! He was simply precious with those eyes of his!

Naruto nodded but before he could say it was nice to meet Hana, Iruka began speaking again.

"QUIET DOWN!" He yelled, as his head suddenly became the same size of his body, disturbing Naruto greatly.

Once everyone had done what he commanded, Iruka resumed from where he left off, "Like I was saying, all of you have been preparing years for this test, so don't let it intimidate you. Believe in what we taught you and you'll do fine," Iruka said as he picked up a stack of papers and began sending them out.

Naruto got his test and began answering questions like there was no tomorrow; his pencil flying over the answer boxes so fast there might have been the chance of a fire. Naruto added, subtracted, calculated and guessed the answers.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Hana was on page three while he was on page five. From the looks of it, she noticed it too and was trying to catch up to him.

Naruto finished test within an hour, thirty minutes before they had to be done, and hopped down from his chair and gave his test to Iruka, who was greatly surprised. Naruto was the third to finish his test but the first to actually finish all of it. The first two had skipped a few sections.

As Naruto returned to his seat Iruka began grading and much to his surprise, Naruto scored an 81%. While that was above average, Naruto was, in all sense of the word, a child! How did he manage to score such a high-grade?

'_I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, Hokage-sama did vouch for him_,' Iruka thought as he began to grade the papers that started to flood in.

When Iruka finally finished grading, which took longer than normal due to Mizuki's absence, he brought the class outside to begin the next phase of the exam.

"Alright everyone, now we will be testing your aim! You'll have ten shuriken and ten kunai, you'll throw them and try to hit the bulls eye. Your grade will be determined by how many you get and how close they are," Iruka explained as he called the contestants alphabetically by their last name.

Naruto was one of the last ones to go but Naruto was fine with that since he got to see how everyone else was. Hana, who stood next to him while they were waiting, got a 10/10 with the shuriken and 9/10 with kunai. She took second and, from what she told Naruto, she was going to be the kunoichi of the year.

Naruto asked who was the rookie of the year was and she pointed to a boy with pitch black hair with a high collar that covered the bottom half of his face. He also wore sunglasses so you couldn't know what he was looking at.

Naruto hummed, he wasn't to surprised. The preteen had gotten a perfect score with both his shuriken and kunai.

To his surprise, however, the preteen stood alone and didn't look like he wanted to be near anyone. That confused him since he thought that the rookie of the year would be really popular.

'_Lavi Aburame,_' Naruto memorized the name. Lavi seemed like he would be worth remembering.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka called out, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. Naruto walked up and grabbed the shuriken, he could feel everyone's eyes on him, wondering how he would do and if he was really good enough to be here.

Naruto threw his first shuriken and it hit dead center, there was a mumble of surprise and approval and that encouraged Naruto to continue.

He finished off the kunai with eight in the bulls-eye and the other two in the inner ring, the third highest score. When he finished throwing his kunai, he had scored a perfect ten out of ten.

He turned around and saw that his performance had gained a number of reactions, surprise, approval, jealousy and anger. The main source for the last two seemed to be coming from a brown haired boy with a band-aid right under his left eye.

Naruto went on a limb and guessed that he was the dead last since he had only gotten 4/10 with the shuriken and 6/10 with kunai.

"Impressive," Iruka complimented before he lead the class to a clearing. At the center was a large white circle and the class stood to the side of the circle with practiced ease.

"Here, we will be testing your taijutsu. your goal his to land one clean hit or impress me while remaining inside the ring. If you go outside than I will deduct a letter grade from your final score in this area," he explained before he got into his taijutsu stance.

Naruto watched the students as he waited for his turn. Lavi had passed but barely, Aburame's didn't focus on taijutsu but he was proficient in the academy style enough to get by.

Hana, on the other hand, passed with flying colors. She wasn't able to use her nin-dogs, who Naruto still didn't know the names of, but even without their help she was high genin level in taijutsu. She scored a hit within a minute.

The brown-haired boy, Akito was his name, had also passed but it had been close. His taijutsu was a mess but it couldn't be described as fighting like a brawler. His taijutsu was a grand mix-match of random styles that shouldn't have flowed but he made it work.

He managed to land a blow on Iruka in the last fifteen seconds and passed the taijutsu portion.

Lastly, it was Naruto's turn.

Naruto stepped into the ring as he stretched and loosened up his muscles before he got into the Goken stance.

Iruka rose an eyebrow and got into his stance again, supporting a few bruises. While he did hold back some on the kids, else no one would have passed, there were a few gems this year that dealt some damage.

"Begin," Iruka said and half a second later he was blocking a knee aimed for his nose. Iruka's eye widened as he blocked with both hands, only to have Naruto's other leg to swing around and try to nail him in the temple, forcing him to duck.

Naruto back-flipped and landed in a crouch before he pressed the attack; he knew Iruka was way stronger than him so he had to end this quickly.

The class watched with wide eyes, even the stoic Aburames, Hyugas and Uchihas, as they watched a child push back their teacher. While he hadn't managed to land a hit yet, he was moving in a way that most of the class couldn't.

They felt some resentment at that because Naruto was just a child and he was ahead of them in more than a few ways.

'_He's not holding back as much as he did with the other student's_,' Naruto thought sadly tone. It seems that Iruka had finally realized who he was.

Naruto's thoughts were correct. It had taken much longer than it should have but he had finally recognized the mostly blonde boy. The kyuubi jinchuuriki, the host of the demon that had killed his parents.

However, even knowing this, Iruka couldn't bring himself to actually attack the child. He was just a five year old boy, regardless of what he contained.

...but that didn't mean he was going to make passing the exam easy for him.

Naruto rolled to the side as he dodged a kick before he crossed his fingers; if Iruka was going to stop holding back than he would have to use his secret taijutsu style.

Suddenly, two clones poofed as Naruto's sides, confusing Iruka greatly. That wasn't the handsign for henge and there was no way that this kid knew shadow clones.

This was the taijutsu style he had been developing with Gai in the past months. When his sensei's realized he was using shadow clones without their supervision Gai decided it would be youthful if they incorporated clones into Naruto's style. While many would see that as an odd reaction to his student breaking the rules; to Gai it made perfect sense.

While the Goken fist was a great starting point, and he got nearly all of the kata's for his style from it, it didn't fully fit Naruto. So, Gai decided to make a taijutsu style that was based on the boys cunningness and ability to abuse the use of shadow clones.

At this point; it was basically the Goken style with shadow clones thrown in the mix but that would change as it neared completion.

Naruto's clones flanked Iruka while Naruto charged in the middle and the three attacked simultaneously. As Naruto went for Iruka's head, his clones went for his torso and legs. Iruka was caught in his trap, there wasn't a way for him to get away without taking a hit!

Iruka was confused, why was Naruto fighting like his clones were solid? Was is a confusion tactic? Were they actually shadow clones? Iruka didn't know the jutsu so he didn't know.

However, Iruka decided to play it safe and attacked the clone going for his chest, intending to make a path for himself, but he had unknowingly walked into Naruto's trap.

As his clone dispelled in a puff of smoke, temporarily blinding Iruka, he created another clone to kick off of and launched himself to the right, the direction Iruka was now heading. As Iruka cleared the smoke, blinking away smoke, he delivered a solid left hook to the mans jaw, sending him out of the ring.

As Naruto landed on his feet while Iruka landed on his feet as well but outside of the ring.

A few kids cheered, the loudest being Hana, while a few were sneering and scoffing, the mainly Akito.

Naruto sent Hana a smile before he turned back to Iruka, who was looking at him with confusion with a hint of pride. He could tell the boy was obviously a prodigy. That had been a simple but clever strategy that he had used that most shinobi forgot to use; smoke from a dispelled jutsu.

While he didn't like Naruto personally, he could tell the boy was a prodigy and was...proud of the boys ability. Iruka could tell that Naruto was a diligent student to whoever was his sensei and that brought his opinion of Naruto up a notch or two.

Naruto raised another notch when he walked over and offered him a band-aid, "Sorry if I hit you too hard," he said as he sent a concerned look at the bruise that was already starting to form on Iruka's cheek.

The scared faced teenager rubbed the back of his head bashfully as he took the band-aid, "ahh, thank you Naruto," he said as he placed the bandage on his jaw before flashing Naruto an awkward smile; causing Naruto to beam.

As the began to file back into the building, for the ninjutsu portion of the test, Hana began to chat with Naruto.

"Those are some deadly little fists you got there," she complimented as she walked next to the boy. She was grinning savagely; Naruto was the cutest little thing that she ever seen and he could also pack a punch!

She couldn't only imagine what a lady killer he would be when he grew up...well, perhaps not in Konoha since he was a jinchuuriki.

Hana had been six during the attack, like the majority of her class, so she could remember the kyuubi attack six years ago. She had been there and could remember when Naruto had been announced as a hero but was received and treated as a villain.

However, unlike the older population of the village, they had been more open minded due to the fact they were children. Sure they were told to avoid Naruto but they were now at an age where they began to question what they were taught and began making their own decisions.

While Hana couldn't speak for the entire class, she liked Naruto a fair bit. Despite being treated...poorly, the child simply took it with a grain of salt and just kept smiling. For that alone she respected the boy, regardless his age.

Naruto gave Hana a broad smile, "Thanks! Your style is really cool," he responded and it was the truth, he didn't know how Hana hadn't gotten dizzy.

Hana grinned, "So where did you learn it from? I've never seen that style before," she commented and her question was backed up by another.

"I would like to know as well; why? You are a child yet you managed to land a hit on a chunin ninja," Lavi said in a flat, logical tone as he turned his hidden eyes to Naruto. His motivations for speaking to Naruto were similar to Hana's.

However, his were less instinctual and motherly based. He was curious about the kyuubi jinchuuriki; he wanted to develop his opinion of the child by his action and not let the villages opinions color his judgement

Naruto looked over, "Gai-sensei helped me make it," he explained simply.

Lavi raised an eyebrow, "You're making your own taijutsu style?" he asked in some surprise.

Naruto nodded and Hana roughly rubbed Naruto's head, "If you're already making a taijutsu style than no wonder your sensei thinks you're ready for the exam," she said as she rubbed, causing Naruto to wince in pain.

However, to the two preteens surprise, instead of giving them a smile, Naruto's eyes darted to the ground, "Y-yeah," he said unconvincingly.

Hana rose an eyebrow before sending a look over at Lavi who nodded in acknowledgement and filed Naruto's reaction for later.

The class once again entered the academy and they lined up by order they arrived. Hana and Naruto had been separated so he was now standing next to Akito, who was sending him a small glare.

"This is the final portion of the exam; ninjutsu. You will be preforming henge, kawarimi, and a clone jutsu. After that we will have an extra credit portion for any jutsu you might have learned on your own time. Now, first up...," Iruka started and began testing the students of henge and kawarimi.

Naruto could feel Akito's glare on his back. While Naruto was use to being glared at, this type of glare was new; it was hot and angry instead of being cold and hateful.

Naruto peeked around, only to see that Akito was still glaring and narrowed his eyes in anger.

"I bet you think you're real tough, don't ya'," he hissed in a loud whisper. Naruto's eyebrows drew together in confusion. What was this about? Why was Akito so angry at him?

Naruto shrugged, "I guess so," he muttered. If he was able to take the exam then he had to be a little tough.

Akito sneered, "Of course you do. Child prodigy from some big clan! Of course you think your tough since you've been getting everything handed to you and never had to work for your skills," Akito hissed, forgetting that Naruto was only, almost, six years old.

Alright, now Naruto was starting to get a little angry. He worked really hard for his skills, he worked really had to be able to take this exam! Now, all of a sudden, this jerk thinks he's been eating cake with a silver fork his entire life? What the hell?

Naruto's eye narrowed as he adopted a frown, "I worked hard," he refuted. However, it didn't do much since all Akito saw was a child arguing.

Akito rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you did," he said sarcastically, "I bet it was tough having everyone teach you everything,"

A tic mark formed on Naruto's head, "It was tough! Gai-sensei, Anko-nee and Kakashi-nii are really tough teachers!" he said, his voice becoming a little more angry and louder.

"Ohh, so you had three teachers, eh? I've only had two teachers and they were more focused on teaching clan members to bother teaching a clan-less orphan like me," Akito said bitterly.

Another tic mark formed on Naruto's head but Akito continued, "They couldn't be bothered, after all, a kid without a clan can't ever be anyone important. So they just glossed me over with vague explanations. Even when I asked them for help, they just give me a few pointers without-"

"Shut up you jerk!" Naruto yelled, surprising everyone in the room and cutting Akito off.

He jabbed a finger at the boy, "I worked really hard to be here! I trained super hard and I even trained after I finished training! So don't bitch to me you jerk cuz' I don't have a clan either and I'm not complaining," he yelled. It was true, the Uzumaki had been all but erased from the face of the earth.

Naruto turned around with a huff, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting from the rest of the class.  
Before Akito had a chance to respond, Iruka cut him off, "Akito, stop bothering Naruto!" he said before he looked at the smaller boy, "it's your turn Naruto,"

Naruto nodded, being sure to stick his tongue out at Akito before he stepped forward and formed the ram sign.

Naruto suddenly poofed into a solid copy of Iruka. The real Iruka examined the henge before nodding in satisfaction, "I don't see any flaws, now preform the kawarimi."

With another poof of smoke, Naruto had been replaced with a chair. Iruka nodded again, "Now the clone jutsu,"

Naruto crossed his fingers,"shadow clone jutsu," he said, thinking that he had to, before two copies of himself stood at his sides. Iruka's eyes widened but he nodded as he checked it off, seems that he was right and Naruto knew the shadow clone jutsu.

"Good, due you know any additional jutsu for extra credit," he asked, thinking that Naruto might have a few more surprises for them.

Naruto nodded before he flew through a few hand-signs and exhaled. A small ball of fire escaped from his mouth, he could have made it much larger but he didn't want to ruin the class room.

A few Uchiha's glared, having recognized the jutsu but left it alone for now.

Iruka nodded, and scribbled down notes, "Next," he said as Naruto took a seat, leaving him to once again watch the remaining test takers.

Naruto felt good about his chances; while he had done well in all of the sections but he was slightly worried that Iruka would fail him anyway. If that happened then he didn't know how he would face Kakashi-nii and the others.

As a matter of fact, he didn't know how to face him if he passed the test. He knew Kakashi would be angry but Naruto didn't know how angry. What if Kakashi decided that he didn't want to be his brother anymore? What if he was so angry that he started staring at him with _that_ look?

Naruto felt a wave of anxiety crash over him; despite planning out the crime perfectly, he hadn't planned out the aftermath. Naruto even considered telling Iruka to pretend like he was never here and just pretend that he had actually gone on the camping trip.

Naruto shook his head of those thoughts. He had started this and he didn't have a choice other than finishing it.

Minutes went by and Iruka finished grading their final tests; seems like he had become a master of paperwork as well.

"Alright class," he said as he stood up, giving the class a hard look, "you all passed!" he said in a happy tone. His first class that he had ever taught didn't have a single failure! A few had come close, Akito, but none of them fell below the line.

A cheer went up in the class and Naruto felt relief flood him.

He had passed! He was a genin!

Naruto smiled so broadly that his face hurt and smiled even wider when Iruka posted the class ranking for the test and he had come in second.

After the cheering had died down, Iruka began distributing headbands and everyone was grinning like a loon as they placed them on their heads for the first time. Moments later they began to file outside for the graduation ceremony.

There were dozens of parents all praising their children and telling them how proud they were. Naruto felt a stab of jealousy as he watched Hana being embraced by her mother and her leg being griped by a boy his age.

While Naruto didn't have parents, he did have Kakashi and Anko. They could be the ones praising him instead but he had chosen to go behind their backs so Naruto didn't blame anyone for that other then himself.

Naruto sighed, a mixture between a happy and sad sigh, as he felt the headband tied around his forehead. Despite his nervousness about his families reaction, he was looking forward to telling them.

His thoughts were interrupted when a hand landed on his head. Startled, Naruto shot around, looking up and his heart dropped to his sandals when he did.

Kakashi was the one behind him and he didn't look happy.

**So ends chapter three; glad for it too because this chapter fought me the whole way. I'm going to go back and do some editing in the near future but for now it'll do. **

**Please forgive the use of OC's. I couldn't find anyone else that was in Hana's generation so I had to invent a few characters. If it's any consolation; they won't be around for too long, just until Naruto's a chunin. Also, I know it's a bit of a stretch that Iruka would be teaching when he's 16 but I wanted to use him simply because I wanted to avoid using another OC.**

**Next chapter will deal with the aftermath.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning! This chapter hasn't been beta'd! There was a mix up and the beta'd version wouldn't be back to me for a few more days. Since I'm an impatient person, I figured you guys were the same and wouldn't want to wait another week for the chapter. I've gone over it a couple times but I know I missed a few mistakes. After reading the same thing so many times; you don't even notice them anymore. **

**Also, I'm glad some of you caught my pun! It's my favorite form of comedy and theres going to be several more throughout the story!**

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, staring deep into the soul of the boy who stood before him. However, instead of fidgeting or trying to avert his heavy gaze, like so many had done before him, the boy remained impassive. He stared right back with a blank look as he awaited whatever punishment awaited him.

This surprised Hiruzen greatly and saddened him even more. What kind of treatment did this child have to endure to be able to withstand the gaze of the Hokage? A man so powerful that in the three shinobi wars, the mention of his name brought fear into the hearts of his enemies?

The old man released smoke in the form of a sigh; he was currently at a loss as to what he should do in this situation.

Naruto Uzumaki, a five year old child, now genin of Konoha, had managed to deceive not only the Hokage of his village but a jonin and several chunin ninja.

Hiruzen was at a loss but not because he didn't know how he should punish Naruto but because he didn't know if he should punish Naruto or praise him.

Naruto had managed to trick not only an S-ranked shinobi and a hero of three wars but a number of other shinobi despite only being five. FIVE! He tricked trained shinobi, masters of manipulation and deceit, at FIVE!

While Naruto certainly had done a bad thing; he was acting and thinking like a shinobi. He wanted something and thought he could handle it and wasn't afraid to use underhanded tactics to gain it. While that was certainly bad for a child, it showed great thinking and potential for a ninja.

Naruto told him his plan and how he executed it mere moments ago and he was greatly impressed. While the plan had been very simple, he had covered very base and accounted for a number of foreseeable elements; like him questioning him or Gai questioning if Naruto went on the camping trip.

He planned for just about anything his mind could come up with; what excuses to use if he was caught, where he needed to be, when people were going to be where and so on. If Hiruzen had to guess, he would place Naruto's IQ on par with a Nara; something nearly unheard of.

But perhaps it just went to show that Naruto really was Minato's son.

Hiruzen's eyes darted over to Kakashi, who was standing just behind Naruto. They made eye contact for a mere moment but Hiruzen could tell Kakashi was at a loss for what to do as well.

While there was a small amount of pride in his eyes, his little brother had just pulled a fast one over the Hokage, it was overshadowed by anger. Kakashi was pissed. Naruto didn't just disobey his orders but he tossed away whatever childhood he could have had.

He gave up playing with his friends for practicing ninjutsu. He gave up getting excited over toys for learning how to wield a weapon. He gave up his innocence for a life filled with sin and bloodshed.

So yes; Kakashi was furious.

His gaze then turned to Anko, who had shown up with Kakashi. She saw Naruto being dragged to his office and decided to find out what her little brother had done; though she did have a good idea when she saw the headband around Naruto's forehead.

Unsurprisingly, Hiruzen saw pride in the woman's eyes. If he couldn't see it in her eyes than he could in the giant smile she wore; it looked like it was taking all of her willpower not to jump around the room praising Naruto.

Her little brother had tricked the Hokage! She hadn't even done that!

With a silent chuckle, Hiruzen then looked at Gai who seemed to have a mixture of emotions of his face. While it was obvious he was both disappointed in himself for being tricked by Naruto and in Naruto for tricking him; he saw pride in there as well. He was proud that his protégé's flames of youth burned so brightly.

Finally, his eyes returned to Naruto, who still looked at him blankly. However, he could see nervousness and a hint of fear in the young boys eyes.

'_So Naruto-kun understands what he's done_,' the Hokage thought, feeling at more at loss for what he should do.

Exhaling smoke, Hiruzen began to speak, "Naruto-kun...I'm very disappointed in you; that you would lie to me and Gai," the boy flinched at that but Hiruzen continued, "but you showed very sharp thinking and planning," he said, deciding that honesty would be best.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden compliment, "...y-your not mad...?" he asked in a small voice.

Hiruzen breathed in deep, "Yes and no...I'm disappointed that you plotted instead of asking but I know I shouldn't be so surprised. You are a child, whether you're a shinobi or not, so I can't expect you to know when and how to use what you've been taught," he said before he leaned forward.

"However, I now expect you to know better. While what you did was very impressive Naruto-kun, you used your abilities selfishly and against your village. Had this been this been something more important that a waver for the genin exam, I may have had no choice but to execute you for treason," he lied. He would never execute the village's jinchuuriki or a prodigy of Naruto's caliber.

However, Naruto didn't need to know that.

Naruto flinched again with wide eyes but nodded, understanding just how big of a deal this was.

"While, as I said, am proud of your abilities, next time you should use them to benefit the village instead of yourself. I know you thought yourself ready for the exam but Kakashi said that you shouldn't take it and you should listen to him," Hiruzen finished his scolding/praising and leaned back in his chair.

While he was in favor of Naruto becoming a genin sooner, if he told Naruto that he shouldn't listen to Kakashi, it would only bring trouble in the future.

"Do you understand," he asked as he breathed in tobacco once again and got a nod from Naruto.

"Yeah...I'm sorry jiji," he said in a dejected tone as he stared down at his sandals he felt terrible due to the Hokage's words. While Naruto had a vague idea that they were going to be angry, he thought that they would be so impressed that they wouldn't be to mad.

Hiruzen smiled lightly, glad that his words had gotten through to Naruto, "I forgive you Naruto-kun, however do not do this again," he said before he looked at Kakashi, "all of you can leave except for Kakashi," he said and everyone obeyed his order.

Once everyone left, Hiruzen began refilling his pipe, "Now that Naruto-kun is a genin, I hereby allow you to retire from ANBU and name Naruto Uzumaki as your apprentice," he said as a flame sparked to life on the tip of his finger that he used to lit his pipe before he waved it out of existence.

Kakashi smiled softly beneath his mask, while he was very, very, unhappy with the circumstance, he was happy to finally get out of ANBU and be able to train Naruto without the worry of being in the middle of a lesson only to be called off for a week.

Hiruzen picked up a folder of papers that he had delivered to him by Iruka during Naruto's explanation and tossed them to Kakashi, "Here are the exam results," he said and as Kakashi began reading, he began summarizing.

"Naruto managed to take second in the exam ranking, just under young Lavi. He preformed very well in taijutsu, where Iruka-kun admitted that his emotions clouded his judgment and he held back less against Naruto but the boy still passed," Hiruzen commented.

While Hiruzen was slightly disappointed in Iruka's behavior, he was proud that the boy owned up to what he had done and managed to remain impartial when grading Naruto. That was more than most could say.

Kakashi nodded, skipping to that section and quickly began reading Iruka's notes. After he and Hiruzen finished discussing Naruto's results, they discussed what Kakashi was going to do with the boy.

"Giving him the real genin exam would be pointless," Kakashi said as he tucked papers back into the folder, "it would just be redundant. He tricked both you and Gai so it's safe to say that he deserves to be a genin."

Hiruzen nodded, thinking along the same lines, "As for team placements; will you take a genin team or will you work conjointly with other teams?"

"Conjointly, I will remain only Naruto's sensei but he'll work with the rookie genin, whichever teams pass this year," he responded. While he toyed with the idea of taking a whole genin team, he knew it would be unfair because he would unintentionally favor Naruto.

As someone that believed in teamwork, that would be unacceptable.

Hiruzen nodded again, "Iruka-kun observed that Naruto managed to get along with both the rookie of the year, Lavi Aburame, and the kunoichi of the year, Hana Inuzunka. However, Naruto seemed to have gotten into an argument with the dead last, Akito. If the traditional team manages to pass then I would recommend working with that team,"

Kakashi hummed in thought, thinking it was a good idea. Naruto would be able to work with talented peers while also learning how to deal with people that he didn't like.

While Naruto was usually well mannered, when someone pressed his buttons, he snapped with the passion of a thousand suns.

"Sounds fine to me," Kakashi responded and began to head out the door but was stopped by Hiruzen.

"Kakashi, I know you're angry with Naruto right now but try to see things from his view," the old man said, causing Kakashi to swing around but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.

"Naruto has had a very hard life despite being so young. Regardless of what you did, who you threatened or blackmailed; Naruto was never going to have a true childhood," Hiruzen said and got an angry glare from Kakashi.

"You don't know that! He made friends with Uchiha Sasuke not to long ago, he could have made more and spent time with them before he became a shinobi," Kakashi argued.

What Naruto still didn't understand was that he wouldn't have nearly as much time to hang out with Sasuke or the other friends he could have made. Now he was going to on missions, chores at the beginning, but in a few months he was going to be out of the village for weeks at a time!

It was going to be incredibly hard to maintain his friendship with Sasuke because he was always going to be busy with his training or missions and Kakashi wasn't going to be as lax as he was when Naruto was an actual shinobi.

He wasn't going to let Naruto skip out on a lesson or do something half-assed so he could play with his friends. No, Naruto was now a solider and he would be trained as such.

Slacking off meant death in the shinobi world and he'd be damned before he let Naruto die.

Hiruzen sighed deeply, "Perhaps but Naruto was never going to have the childhood you wanted to him to have," he said as he looked Kakashi in the eye, "I robbed him of that fate the moment I announced his status to the village. At the time I thought I was following Minato's last request, to have his son be seen as a hero but I was wrong...," he trailed off.

"It was a mistake; I robbed Naruto of a normal life and condemned him to be hated by the village. Because of this Naruto has become too mature for his age so do not blame him for not wanting to be treated as a child when no one has ever treated him as such," Hiruzen finished.

Kakashi's glare softened into a regretful look, his anger beginning to dissipate, before he nodded softly and left the room.

* * *

Naruto was ridding on Anko's shoulders as she paraded him through the village, "You _tricked_ the _Hokage_! I'm so freakin proud of you I could die~!" she said enthusiastically. Her little baby brother and number one student had pulled a fast one over the HOKAGE!

Such a thing was nearly unthinkable! The old man was a shinobi that lived when the hidden villages were being formed; one simply didn't trick that kind of man! Even she didn't have the guts to try to manipulate him but Naruto had done it no problem! He had even become a genin to top it all off!

Naruto allowed himself a small smile at his nee-chans praise but for the most part he still looked sullen. Guilt for lying to his friends and family was starting to hit after his talk with jiji. It was one thing to expect to get scolded but an entirely different thing to be scolded.

He looked over at Gai, who was walking beside them, "I'm really sorry for lying Gai-sensei..." he said softly, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes but the eccentric man simply gave him a thumbs up and a smile.

"It's okay Naruto-kun! Your flames of youth simply burned to brightly to be withheld," he said as his teeth sparkled.

While Gai had been upset that Naruto had tricked him; he quickly forgave his student simply because he understood where Naruto was coming from. The boys spirit of youth burned too fiercely for anyone to try to keep Naruto from his goal.

Naruto looked relived before he returned the thumbs up and smile; feeling incredibly thankful that Gai didn't hate him.

"Pfft! Kaka-baka was the only one that was trying to hold him back," Anko scoffed. She thought Naruto was ready at the six month mark and Gai thought Naruto had been ready at the eight month mark but Kakashi had shut them down every time they brought up the exam.

While Anko didn't really care for what Kakashi said, she didn't act out against it either. She couldn't just tell Kakashi where to shove his opinions because she had Naruto to think about. If she and Kaka-baka were fighting, and potentially trying to wrestle for custody, Naruto would be heartbroken.

So she refrained herself from bring Naruto to the academy herself to spare the boys feelings.

"Oh, how your words wound me," Kakashi said in a sarcastic but flat tone as he appeared and scooped Naruto off Anko's shoulders. The purple haired kunoichi gave a surprised cry before looking up and saw that Naruto was in Kakashi's arms, who was giving her an eye smile.

"I'll be taking Naruto for a bit, see'ya later," the masked man said before he and a confused looking Naruto disappeared viva shunshin.

* * *

Naruto was going to be sick. He knew about the shunshin jutus, a jutsu that Itachi's friend was known for, he never experienced it before. Now that he had; he could honestly say that he didn't like it.

Sure, it was a cool jutsu, one he would defiantly master one day, but it was incredibly disorienting to suddenly teleport from the middle of the street to the park in less than a second.

"Ughhh," Naruto moaned, a greenish tint coloring his skin. Kakashi chuckled despite himself; he had the same reaction when sensei used the Harashin on him for the first time.

He set Naruto down on a nearby bench. The park was practically deserted other than a few children that were swinging on the monkey bars and having a great time.

Good; they would help prove his point.

Kakashi took a seat next to Naruto, who was slowly returning to a normal hue, "Do you see that?" he asked as he gestured to the children playing.

Naruto, realizing that his scoldings weren't finished, grimaced before he looked over. He saw a boy with triangles on his cheeks, the same boy that hugged Hana's leg, and a girl with blonde hair yelling at him for something. There was also a pink haired girl, hiding behind the blonde with a scrapped knee.

Naruto figured that Hana's brother hurt the pink haired girl and her friend, blondie, had gotten angry.

"Yeah...," Naruto said, not sure what he was supposed to be seeing.

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto...what you did has so many consequences that you don't even know about. Yes, you did an amazing thing, something only a few have ever done but you sacrificed so many things to obtain that headband," he said as he pointed at the children.

"Those could be your friends Naruto," he said and confused Naruto.

"Why can't they be my friends now?" he asked in a small voice. While he knew that it was incredibly unlikely that they would even want to be friends with him but he was being hypothetical.

"Because it's very hard to maintain friendships with civilians. You're a ninja now and it's going to be tough just to maintain your friendship with Sasuke much less make more friends," Kakashi replied, causing Naruto's brow to furrow.

While Naruto was very young, he had a habit of making people fiercely protective and loyal to him. However, it took time to solidify those kinds of bonds and Naruto would be lacking in time when his training began anew.

"Me and Sasuke will always be friends!" Naruto exclaimed but his vow was dismissed by Kakashi.

"Easier said than done. Will your friendship really be a strong as it is now when you haven't seen each other in weeks because of missions? When your training, he's having fun?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply but he was cut off by Kakashi.

"I know Sasuke will become a ninja but that won't be until years from now. If he graduates at the normal time then it'll be seven years from now," Kakashi said, making Naruto think.

Seven years was a very long time in the eyes of a five year old.

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, "I know you don't think yourself as a kid but you are Naruto. You're a five year old child whether you like it or not-" Kakashi would have continued but it was Naruto's turn to cut him off.

"But I don't want to be a kid! I want to be a ninja! I don't need to have a childhood! I never had one in the first place!" Naruto exclaimed as fire burned in his eyes.

Kakashi grimaced behind his mask, the Hokage's words ringing in his skull like a bell. Perhaps that was the reason he wanted Naruto to have a childhood; because he knew Naruto would never had one to begin with.

That saddened his even more because he could remember how his sensei and Kushina-neechan envisioned Naruto's childhood.

How, according to Kushina, Naruto would be king of the jungle gym, kick Sasuke's ass doing so, and gain a harem of women. How, according to Minato, Naruto was going to be the kind boy that made sure everyone was having a great time and be surrounded by friends.

He could remember how they shared their visions with him, claiming that he would be in every scene, and it made his heart clench.

Naruto had none of that. He wasn't king of the jungle gym, he didn't have a harem of women, he was still a bit to young for that anyway, he wasn't surrounded by friends, he didn't have parents. He had a few adoptive siblings and a handful of friends, a far cry from what his parents envisioned.

Kakashi hated that and he wanted Naruto to live out a few of his parents visions.

Perhaps that was the reason why he was desperately fighting this pointless fight. Even if he wanted to change it at this point, he couldn't. Naruto was officially a genin of Konoha and any semblance to a real childhood had ended the moment he received his headband.

Kakashi sighed loudly, his anger dispersing and his will to continue this fight evaporating "I understand that, I was the same way when I was your age. I couldn't stand the fact that everyone treated me as a child when I viewed myself as an adult," he chuckled lightly, trying to end the argument.

"So...your not mad anymore...?" Naruto asked a bit timidly, afraid that his nii-san was still upset with him.

Kakashi shook his head, "No...I'm not mad anymore," he said as he patted Naruto's head.

"THERE YOU ARE!" a voice interrupting their bonding moment.

Both males looked over and saw a furious looking Anko that was storming up. When she was a foot away, she grabbed Naruto and returned him to his rightful place on her shoulders before she gave Kakashi a glare.

"Don't you dare kidnap my Naru-chan again Kaka-baka," she said as she turned away, the "or else" was implied in her glare.

While Naruto was trying to make excuses, saying that Kakashi just wanted to talk to him, Kakashi chuckled as he joined the group as he pulled out his orange book.

They had a child prodigy, a man wearing neon green spandex, a woman wearing next to nothing and a man that read porn publicly.

Ahh...family.

"What were you two doing anyway?" Anko demanded, her hands gripping Naruto's ankles to prevent another kidnapping.

"Ohh, just showing him great literature," he replied as he flipped a page.

Anko rolled her eyes in annoyance at Kakashi's blatant lie (it had better been). She didn't really care for Kakashi, despite having Naruto in common. He was just to...uncaring for her tastes. While that may seem hypocritical, she cared about a few things; Kurenai, her skills as a kunoichi, her position as to-be head of the T&I department and Naruto.

Kakashi, on the other hand, seemed to care only about Naruto. While thats all fine and dandy, he didn't seem to care for anything else. Sometimes she even questioned if he cared for his friends when she saw him repeatedly brush Gai's challenges off.

Gai insisted that was simply Kakashi's hip attitude but Anko wasn't convinced.

Naruto didn't notice Anko's reaction to Kakashi's response because he was to busy beaming joy out of every pore; Kakashi-nii didn't hate him! He was forgiven!

"Now, I think it's time we celebrated Naruto's graduation! He took second in ranking," Kakashi informed as he gave Naruto an eye smile.

Anko looked up, causing Naruto to almost lose his balance, "What?! Second place?! That's great! I knew you could do it!" She exclaimed, causing Naruto to flush with pride and embarrassment.

"Yosh! Most excellent Naruto-kun!" Gai exclaimed right after he, giving Naruto another thumbs up and a smile.

Kakashi, still eye smiling, said, "Since todays your day, you get to choose where we eat lunch."

Naruto beamed before looking deep in thought; while finding a place to eat wouldn't be a problem, finding a place that would let him in was. Kakashi-nii had bullied the vendors and store owners into letting Naruto shop, restaurants were still denying his entrance.

He didn't care though, since he never ate in them, but now it was a bit of a problem.

As if attempting to answer Naruto's question, his nose was suddenly hit by the most delicious, intoxicating aroma that he had ever encountered. Sniffing loudly, he pointed at the source of the smell.

Amused, the elder members of the group looked at what Naruto was pointing at and Kakashi stopped when he saw it.

Ichiraku's. The ramen bar that Minato and Kushina ate at nearly every day when they were dating. While Minato had been a ramen lover, Kushina had taken it to a whole different level.

Kakashi was certain that one of the main reasons Kushina loved Minato so much was because he made the best miso ramen in, as Kushina claimed, the world.

He himself ate here with them often but he hadn't stepped foot in the bars direction since they died.

"Nii-san! Hurry up!" Naruto yelled back at him, causing him to jerk out of the past and began walking again.

The group entered the restaurant and were greeted by a man in his mid thirties, "Hello, how can I help you?" he greeted as he turned from the cooker and his eyes widened as he saw who had entered his store.

His eyes landed on a much older looking Kakashi, who was rubbing the back of his bashfully. Well, perhaps older looking was the wrong word since he couldn't see Kakashi's face but the boy turned into a man, if that made sense.

His eye's landed on the small boy on Anko's, who was barely dressed in his opinion, shoulders.

Naruto Uzumaki. The son of his two favorite customers.

He smiled lightly as he examined the boy. He had seen Naruto a few times before but the boy always disappeared before he had a chance to talk to him. The boy looked happy, hungry and nervous.

Naruto saw the smile and his nervousness vanished. He had been afraid that the cook would kick him out but it seems that wasn't the case.

The group sat down and Teuchi gave them menus but when he gave Kakashi his, he gave the man a knowing grin, "It's been a while Kakashi-kun," he commented.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head again and eye smiled, "Yeah...I got a little lost on the road to life," he replied, telling the truth for once.

"You know my nii-san?" Naruto asked.

Teuchi nodded, "Sure do, he use to come here all the time when he was a boy," he said with a smirk, understanding Kakashi's six year absence. He took the death of his sensei, the villages Hokage, the hardest by far.

However, before Naruto had a chance to ask why Kakashi never showed him this heavenly place, just going by the smell, an auburn haired girl around ten years old walked in.

"Dad, did we get customers?" A young Ayame asked as she entered from the back room. Her question was pointless when she was that half of their seats were filled. Much to her surprise, she recognized one even though it had been six years.

"Mask-chan!" Ayame said loudly before she made her way up the steps that let her see over the counter easier. Kakashi gave Ayame an eye smile, "Yo, you've grown," he commented, causing the girl to beam.

Naruto watched the exchange and an unfamiliar feeling entered his chest; jealousy.

"How do you know _my_ nii-san?" Naruto asked, emphasizing the word my. Seems that Naruto might have been spending to much time with Sasuke.

Both Kakashi and Ayame turned at Naruto but before Kakashi could give an answer, Ayame noticed Naruto's headband, "Are you playing ninja?" she asked in a curious tone.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "I'm not playing ninja! I am one," he said, thinking that it should be obvious that he was a full fledged ninja.

Ayame looked doubtful, "No way! You're way to small to be a ninja! You're younger than I am," she said as she scooted closer to Naruto, dragging the steps with her as she did so. Kakashi was all but forgotten by the two as they argued.

"Am not!" Naruto argued with passion.

"Are too! You couldn't even see over the counter if you weren't sitting," Ayame shot back.

"...So?! Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't be a ninja! I trained for a year and I took the exam today," Naruto shot back as he pointed to his headband with pride.

"I bet they just gave you the headband since you're so small and they felt bad for you," Ayame said, blatantly insulting the boy. She hadn't yet mastered the art of filtering what she said yet. Plus, she found it rather fun teasing the boy.

Naruto's brow furrowed, "They did not!"

"Yeah they did. You're just too small to be a ninja,"

"Am not!"

"Are too,"

"Am n-" Naruto was cut off by Anko throwing her head back in laughter, earning a small glare from Naruto.

"Whats so funny?!"

Anko roughly rubbed Naruto's head, "You are; the girls right, you're way too small to be a ninja," she said, taking the unexpected side.

"But, enough of that, we haven't ordered yet," she said, officially ending the argument. However, judging from the outrage in Naruto's eyes, the argument was far from over.

After ordering their food; Anko got a salty ramen, Gai got miso with menma and Naruto and Kakashi both got miso with extra pork.

The chatted amongst themselves, taking their turns congratulating Naruto and after they got and ate their food, Naruto seemed to inherit his mother's addiction to ramen and started claiming it to be food fit for a god, the three adults decided it was time to give their gifts to Naruto.

While they were going to punish Naruto for breaking their rules and going behind their backs, they decided that they would wait until after today. They weren't going to punish him on the same day he became one of the youngest genin in the history of Konoha.

"Gifts?" Naruto asked in confusion. The word was almost foreign to Naruto. The only gifts he had ever received were gama-chan, a toad shaped wallet that someone unknown gave him, and the clothes and food Kakashi gave him.

"Gifts," Kakashi repeated, hating the confusion in Naruto's eyes, and pulled out a scroll in one of his flak jackets pouches and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto grinned as he unsealed the scroll, fuinjutsu was way cooler than any wrapping paper. What popped out were more scrolls and a few books; Naruto smiled like a loon as he began reading the titles.

He grabbed the first book titled, 'Fuinjutsu level three; congratulations on not blowing yourself up so far!' by Jiraiya. Naruto's smile widened; Jiraiya was, by far, his favorite author.

Putting the book down, he continued reading the rest. The next one that he picked up was a scroll titled,'Bloody Whirlpool style,'

Naruto gulped at the ominous sounding name but quickly realized that this was the offensive style that complimented the Whirlpool Dance style!

There were a few more books and scrolls about a number of different things but all were shinobi related.

"Thank you nii-san!" Naruto yelled as he all but threw himself in Kakashi's chest. The one eyed man chuckled as he patted Naruto's head.

"Most youthful Kakashi! Now Naruto-kun, take a look at what I've gotten you," Gai said as he jumped out of his seat and out of his ninja pouch he whipped out something that Kakashi feared.

A neon orange spandex jumpsuit.

Stars twinkled in Naruto's eyes as murder and rage gleamed in Anko and Kakashi's.

"Soooo coool," Naruto yelled as he jumped out of his seat, proving that he wasn't tall enough to see over the counter by several inches, and ran towards Gai, wanting to put the jumpsuit on this very second.

However, thankfully, Kakashi held the boy back and in the split second Naruto turned to look at his nii-san in confusion; Anko threw a handful of kunai and pierced the offending clothing.

"It certainly is Naruto but it seems that it needs to go to the tailor before you can wear it," Kakashi said, causing Naruto to look back at Gai. The green clad ninja was crouching some feet away, anime tears streaming down his face as he drew circles in the ground, looking completely dejected.

Next to him, the spandex jumpsuit laid torn to ribbons.

Naruto blinked in confusion, he could have sworn that a second ago the jumpsuit looked fine!

"Yeah, looks like it'll take awhile to fix too," Anko commented as both Kakashi and she shared a glance, commending each other for a job well done.

Naruto's shoulders slumped, he had been looking forward to wearing the jumpsuit. According to Gai, it would greatly enhance his spirit of youth!

"Now that was all fine and dandy, feast your eyes on this my cute little bro," Anko said dramatically before she whipped out a scroll and unsealed it.

A few books popped out; mostly about infiltration techniques, poisons and pranks but there were a few cook books in the mix as well. There was even one about how to conduct tea ceremonies.

However, those weren't nearly as attention grabbing as the life sized statue of Naruto now standing on the counter. The statue had it's hands on its hips as it's chest was puffed out; looking incredibly life like and heroic. It was amazing in every sense of the word, especially when you considered what it was made of.

Panties.

This work of art was the reason why Anko sent Naruto into the women bathhouse, not just for training and for giggles, but for building materials as well.

Naruto's face burned with embarrassment, causing Anko and Kakashi to laugh.

"Well, do you liiikkkeee it?" Anko asked, rolling the word like off her tongue, causing Naruto to redden further.

"Nee-chan," Naruto whined as he tried to curl up into himself; wanting to just disappear.

Anko laughed louder as she rubbed Naruto's head, "That's not all! Look!" she said before she grabbed the statue and began moving parts so it now looked like Naruto in his Goken stance, "It moves," she said gleefully, proud of her work of art.

"I have to ask...why panties?" Kakashi asked, mirth still in his tone.

"After Naru-chan's first raid on the bathhouse, I had a bunch of useless panties just lying around; I decided to do something constructive with them," she explained with a shrug.

Kakashi gave Naruto a lazy look, causing the boy to shrink more, "So your the reason the bathhouses heightened security," he realized before he too patted Naruto on the head, "ahh, they start so young these days," he commented to Anko, getting a laugh from the purple haired kunoichi.

Naruto felt like he was going to die from embarrassment; no, he wanted to die! Hell would be far more kind.

"Nii-san, nee-chan," Naruto grumbled.

"Aww~! Naru-chan is blushing~" Anko said as she pinched the boys cheeks, "but you do like it right?" she asked as she gave his cheeks a threatening pull. She worked hard on that statue dammit!

Naruto nodded his head, unable to speak due to Anko's pinching, causing Anko to beam.

Off to the side Tenchi and Ayame watching the odd family with a bewildered expression on their face.

**A few days later**

Hiruzen let out a very deep sigh, making a mental note that he had been doing so much more often lately. He had just gotten out of a meeting regarding the teams that managed to pass the not-so-secret genin exam that the jonin held.

Four teams passed this month; while it wasn't an astounding number, it was a genin team more than average. Even if it was just a mere three genin, in the situation they were in, Konoha needed every available hand.

The traditional top two and dead last team managed to pass this year so that was the team Naruto was going to work with on occasion.

He and Kakashi had hammered out more details with Naruto's apprenticeship in the past few days. Naruto would work with team thirteen on D-ranked missions and once he got enough of those under his belt, he would go on C-ranked missions with them.

He would later then be taking C-ranked missions alone with Kakashi when the masked man thought he was ready.

Hiruzen chuckled to himself, it would be an interesting year now that Naruto was a ninja. There were very few that ever managed to get themselves apprenticed and they were always worth keeping an eye on. If Hiruzen remembered correctly, the last ninja apprenticed had been Anko.

Hiruzen was drawn away from his thoughts by the sound of his door opening. With a lazy look he saw that it was his once best friend and greatest rival; Danzo.

"You can come in," Hiruzen commented in a dull tone; commenting on the mans rudeness.

There once was a time that Hiruzen would have been gladdened by his friends appearance but now the man simply gave him a headache. They were just to different now. While they always had conflicting personalities, the managed to get along and were as thick as thieves.

However, it had been his appointment as Hokage that severed their friendship and as the paths they walked continued to diverge, their relationship deteriorated further.

Hiruzen had inherited the will of fire from his predecessor; the will to protect your friends and home at the cost of your life. There was nothing that Hiruzen wouldn't give for his village but there were lines that he refused to cross. No...he would, and had, crossed those lines. He was simply more regretful of it.

Danzo, however, became strict and militaristic. Hiruzen was positive that Danzo loved Konoha just as much as he did; however, Danzo had become a thorn in Hiruzen's side. There wasn't a line that Danzo wouldn't cross and felt no guilt about it.

The man's ROOT program was barbaric at best; pitting children in fights to the death, killing the one they loved most. Raping and murdering innocent men and women to replace them with people more malleable.

While some of these things were necessary to protect the village; Danzo took it a step too far. He wanted Konoha on top; to rule over the other hidden villages like they were the dirt he walked on so he did even more villainous deeds to keep Konoha in the lead.

Hiruzen respected his motives and that was the reason he allowed ROOT to be continued behind his back. He couldn't afford to be a moralist when there was a threat to the village.

However, even when he allowed Danzo's actions to continue unimpeded, it didn't satisfy him. He constantly pushed for Naruto to be placed in his...care. To turn the lovable boy into a cold, emotionless weapon; a living example of the word jinchuuriki.

Hiruzen would be lying if he said that he hadn't considered it.

Danzo walked into Hiruzen's office like he owned the place, "I've received word that Uzumaki Naruto passed the genin exam," he said as he stopped a few feet away.

Hiruzen rose an eyebrow, "Rather good spies you have, only a few know of that," Hiruzen commented, wondering who he would have to fire to fix that leek. Everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy and the only liabilities were the children involved. That meant Danzo had spies in the major clans.

Danzo didn't respond to that, "He was scheduled to take the exam in a month and a half from now; what changed," the one eyed man continued. While one would think it was foolish to let the Hokage know that he had spies in his cabinet; this was a game between him and Hiruzen.

Danzo would plant a spy, gathering as much information as it could before Hiruzen got rid of it.

Hiruzen sighed, looked like he may have to kill someone instead of firing them, "Naruto-kun believed himself ready for the genin exam," he said simply.

Danzo rose an eyebrow, prompting Hiruzen to continue.

The Hokage paused for a moment, debating if he should tell Danzo the circumstances of Naruto's graduation.

"Naruto deceived me and several other jonin and chunin ranked ninja and took the exam behind our backs," Hiruzen explained. Danzo was going to find out eventually so might as well tell him now and avoid a fuss.

Danzo didn't react the way Hiruzen had been expecting. He had been expecting a demand for Naruto to be placed in his care so he could harness the boys talent.

However, instead of even saying anything, Danzo laughed.

Well, laugh wasn't the right word. It was more of a loud chuckle that hinted that it could have been a laugh if it really tried.

That was the closest thing to a laugh that Hiruzen come from Danzo in at least twenty years! Hiruzen looked at his once best friend, using all of his shinobi training to not look like a stammering fool.

Danzo cleared his throat when he noticed the confusion in Hiruzen's eyes, "It's refreshing to hear that there a few shinobi with a spine left," he said with a small stamp of his cane.

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed but he didn't comment, "Why are you here Danzo? I sincerely doubt that you came to discuss Naruto's graduation," he said, his voice adopting an authoritative edge.

Danzo paused for a moment, to gather his thoughts and how to word them, "I intend to find out what your plan are for the jinchuuriki. I understand he had been named Hatake's apprentice and you've recalled him from ANBU but I do not know what you intend from there," Danzo responded, his voice taking an authoritative edge of it's own.

Another game he liked to play with Hiruzen; it was a subtle one but since he no longer spared physically, he spared verbally.

Hiruzen sighed, "So you've come to criticize me withdrawing Kakashi from ANBU," he sated as he pulled his pipe from his sleeve and filled it with tobacco; whenever Danzo came around, the urge to smoke always came after.

"You're withdrawing one of our best to mentor a child; a prodigy, admittedly, but our resources could be put to better use,"

"Yes, I would imagine that giving him to you would be a better use of our resources?" Hiruzen commented as he lit his pipe.

Danzo remained impassive, "Yes; I can train the jinchuuriki while Hatake remains in ANBU, where he is of most use," he responded without pause. He knew his request would be shot down; this was simply a formality for him to see what cards Hiruzen had in his hands.

Hiruzen breathed in smoke, annoyed that he was right and Danzo brought this up again, "No," he said simply, not offering any further explanation.

Danzo's eye narrowed, usually Hiruzen would play this game with him, "You cannot afford to be tender hearted in this situation Hiruzen; we are far too weak even after six years after the kyuubi attack," Danzo said, tying to bait Hiruzen into a verbal spar.

"Do not mistake my actions for tenderness Danzo. Kakashi and I made a deal and I stuck with it. Had I gone against it; Kakashi would have likely left the village with Naruto in tow. When we did get Naruto back, we would have lost another valuable asset and potentially Naruto's loyalty as well," Hiruzen responded.

While it did bother him that he was referring to a human life as an asset or a resource; it was a small price to pay in order to avoid one of Danzo's lectures. Hiruzen did out rank the man and this was his village but if he didn't play these games with Danzo than he wouldn't just be a thorn in his side.

He's become a dagger.

Danzo nodded, knowing that would be the likely outcome and Hiruzen continued, "I gave Naruto to Kakashi because, despite the mans habits, he is one of the strongest ninja in the village and most suited for training Naruto," he said as he blew out a cloud of smoke.

"My point still stands; Kakashi is one of the strongest, followed by Might Gai, and both are focusing their time on the jinchuuriki. While the jinchuuriki should be made strong; I can do so more efficiently. We cannot allow them to take the average two years off to train him, even in their free time," Danzo said, stamping his cane to emphasize his point.

Hiruzen repressed a sigh, it seemed his answer hadn't ended their game. However, a thought struck Hiruzen.

"The chunin exams are being held in Suna after Kumo, correct?" Hiruzen asked, throwing Danzo off with the sudden change in topic.

Danzo nodded, "Yes, in eight months from now," he answered. Kumo was hosting them in two months but they wouldn't be sending a genin team on account tensions were still high after the Hyuga incident a few years ago.

"Then I purpose a wager," Danzo rose an eyebrow, "in eight months from now, Uzumaki Naruto will participate in the exams. If he does not become chunin in the exam; I will then give him to you," Hiruzen said in a grave but confident tone.

He knew he was playing a very dangerous game, and playing with peoples lives, but it was necessary. He needed Danzo off his back, constantly asking for Naruto to be placed in his hands. Not only was it annoying, he was also being pressured by his teammates and advisers.

Half of the reason why Naruto had an ANBU guard was because Hiruzen was positive that Danzo would snatch the boy in his sleep.

If he won this bet, and he likely would, it would hopefully silence Danzo's complaints and keep him away from the boy. In truth, just about every card was in his hand.

The bet was just a formality. Hiruzen knew, with little doubt, that Naruto was going to be a chunin level ninja if he continued progressing at his current rate. If anything, his progress would only increase now that Naruto was a genin.

Then there was Naruto's ability to abuse shadow clones and the fact Naruto was already at mid to high genin level.

If that wasn't already a loaded bet; Hiruzen was a major voice on if Naruto got promoted.

The only risk was on the team Naruto was going to be paired with. If they got thrown out in one of the earlier exams, then he would lose the bet. However, Hiruzen would be sure to pair Naruto with the genin team that had the best chance. If it came down to it, he would just create a temporary team just for Naruto.

Danzo pressed his lips together in was smirk, "And if I lose," he asked; knowing just how loaded the bet was.

"You will be giving me unofficial reports about every mission your ROOT undertake and you and your accomplices stop asking for Naruto," the Hokage responded. Of course he already had spies in Danzo's ROOT, just like how Danzo had spies in his council. However, they were incomplete and spotty at best. The information he would be getting from Danzo would be far more complete and he needed it.

He needed to know who Danzo was making friends with and who he was stabbing in the back.

Danzo nodded, "I accept your wager upon the condition that ROOT gets a child out of every orphanage," he replied; while he knew he was likely to lose the bet, there was always a chance and he wanted to get as much out of it as he could.

Danzo's interest in the kyuubi jinchuuriki was beginning to wane. While the boy was most definitely going to be powerful and a useful tool; Danzo knew he didn't necessarily have to step in and take control of his training. In addition, Hiruzen was acting like the Hokage he needed to be so he didn't have to worry about him being soft on the boy.

They had discussed at length of Naruto's role in protecting the village and Danzo knew Hiruzen would use the boy accordingly to protect the village

Hatake would do an excellent job training the jinchuuriki, considering his attachments, and he would be teach the boy how to be a shinobi, while he would teach him about the 'will of fire,' he knew Hatake wouldn't be so tenderhearted and shield Naruto from the realities of shinobi.

So, either way, he didn't lose.

If Hiruzen lost his bet then he would gain a valuable weapon and many more recruits but if he lost then Konoha gained a valuable weapon and another layer of defense. The same thing he would use him for before he became their sword, the same thing that Hiruzen would eventually turn Naruto into.

Without waiting to see if Hiruzen accepted his condition, Danzo dismissed himself and Hiruzen let out a sigh of regret.

"ANBU, fetch me Kakashi," he said in a flat tone; knowing he was going to get an ear full, wondering if he had made a mistake.

* * *

Naruto yawned loudly as he got out of bed, throwing the covers away and stepping onto the icy cold floor. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he made his way to the refrigerator; planning on making one of the recipes from the cook books Anko had gotten him.

Pushing the booster stool up to the counter, then climbing on said counter and grabbed the book and started to flip through the pages, looking for something that looked tasty. He found something called an omelet.

Stepping down from the counter, he began gathering the ingredients; preparing them with experienced ease. While his cuts weren't the cleanest and he had a few egg shells omelet, he was cooking rather well for his age.

Naruto yawned again as he pored the mix into a pan and placed it over the stove, stirring so the ingredients would be evenly distributed. He was tired since it was almost five o'clock in the morning.

He started getting up at this ungodly hour because he was a genin now and Kakashi told him he needed to get use to waking up early and having late nights.

It's been a few days since Naruto became a ninja and Naruto found out that he was Kakashi's apprentice. He had been ecstatic; now he could learn from his nii-san without the worry that he would have to leave on a mission!

They could even go on missions together!

Naruto cooked his breakfast as he envisioned himself and Kakashi fighting an army and coming out on top.

That wasn't to say he would simply forget about Gai-sensei and Anko-nee! He would still be getting lessons from them. Kakashi arranged a schedule for him and while he would be working with him on most days, he would train with Gai and Anko after Kakashi's lessons and have a full day with them on weekends.

Since he became a genin; he realized that Kakashi had been right. He had very little free time planned out in his schedule however, Naruto made sure to find time for Sasuke and Itachi outside of training.

He refused to lose the first friend he made that was his age.

Naruto flipped his omelet onto a plate and carefully stepped down from his stepladder and went to the table. It was more difficult than it sounded considering how messy his apartment was.

It wasn't trash that he had lying around; no, it was ninja tools, scrolls, clothes, papers related to fuinjutsu, and half a forest worth of leaves; he was still working on mastering the leaf exercise.

His apartment was a giant hazard but Naruto had discovered safe paths to any point in his apartment. While he could just pick everything up, or use his clones to, he didn't simply because he already knew where everything was and that was organized enough for him...even if he did occasionally step on a kunai.

He reached his ink stained table and pushed away a number of failed seals to make room for his plate. He was about to dive into his meal but was stopped at the sound of his door opening.

In an instant Naruto was alert and rigid, jumping down from his chair, he grabbed one of the many weapons that were scattered on his floor. He was ready for battle; a years worth of training with some of the strongest ninja in the village kicking in.

However, it was needless when Naruto saw Kakashi's gravity defying hair peek out the side of his door.

"Oh, you're already up; shame, I was going to scare you," the masked man said, mostly to himself, as he let himself in. He didn't even blink when he saw the mess Naruto's apartment was before he kicked off the wall then off the kitchen counter and landed next to Naruto.

He had found his own safe paths through the mine field.

Naruto relaxed when he saw it was his nii-san and resumed eating his breakfast, "What are you doing here Kakashi-nii? Do you want some?" He asked but got a shake of the head from Kakashi.

"No thanks, as for what I'm doing here..." he trailed off as he sat down. He had just left the Hokage's office and he hadn't heard good news.

To say that he had been a little angry with the Hokage would be like saying that he kinda liked Icha-Icha; a massive understatement.

He had been, no, he was furious; Naruto had just become a genin and yet the Hokage was already trying to make him a chunin? He understood that Konoha was weakened but if it would only weaken them further if Naruto was killed on a mission due to his age.

Kakashi would only be more furious had he known about Hiruzen's wager.

Naruto was strong for his age; stronger than most kids twice his age but that would only do so much against older shinobi. No matter how hard he trained, he still had the physical make-up of a child. His muscles could only develop so much at his age.

He had asked, closer to demand, that the Hokage reconsider but the old man had remained firm. Naruto was going to participate in the chunin exams eight months from now and it was his job to make sure Naruto was ready.

He had every available resource to him; he could use any training ground and even pull Gai or Anko from a mission they would be going on to train Naruto. Admittedly, he wasn't likely ever to do that but he had the ability to and it spoke how important it was Naruto became a chunin.

Naruto's brow furrowed with worry; something was bothering nii-san.

Kakashi saw Naruto's concerned look and sighed loudly, "Your being nominated for the chunin exams in eight months," he said, surprising Naruto greatly.

In a moment, a smile devoured Naruto's face, "Really?!" he exclaimed. This was awesome! He just became a genin but they already thought that he was ready to become chunin?!

Kakashi thumped Naruto on the head, mimicking something he saw Itachi do to his own little brother, "Don't get excited; if anything you should be crying," he said in a serious yet playful tone.

Naruto scowled, "Why should I cry?! I'ma get promoted!" he shot back, rubbing his head tenderly.

"The chunin exams are tough; tougher than anything you've ever experienced. To be completely honest, the chunin exams are tougher than the jounin exam and the fact your going to the one in Suna is going to make it that much worse," Kakashi said.

Naruto looked puzzled and Kakashi explained further, "Suna is known for its harsh chunin exams since they live in a very harsh place. On average; one out of every genin team that takes it dies; sometimes its the whole team," Kakashi explained causing Naruto to gulp.

Naruto's confidence had deflated with that knowledge. One out of every three? That was simply ridicules!

Kakashi saw this, "So, in order to prepare you, we're not cutting any corners. Say goodbye to free time and getting eight hours of sleep," Kakashi said as he rubbed a regretful looking Naruto's head.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I thought that the last chapter fought me; I was dead wrong compared to this. I rewrote the Hiruzen and Danzo scene at least five times before I chose the one that sucked less. I know Hiruzen is OOC in the scene but for the life of me, I couldn't have him do what I needed him to do and have him be himself doing it.**

**Also, the chunin exams won't be happening for at least five more chapters. I was just setting it up in this chapter. The reason I'm using the time frame thing again is simply because Kakashi wouldn't have nominated Naruto for the chunin exams for years.  
**

**Leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter five! Notice; I'm going to bump up this story from T to M because of a few things I have planned down the road. If you have any concerns or questions; send me a PM.  
**

**Leave a review!**

"We have cleaning miss Saki's garden of weeds, Mr. Taki's fence needs to be repainted, young Tora has escaped again, she's rather elusive for a newborn kitten, the Maki twins needed to be babysat-" Hiruzen Sarutobi read off a scroll filled to the brim with D-ranked missions.

He would have continued if it weren't for an interruption in the form of a rage filled cry from a preteen.

"HELL NO!" Akito roared, outrage and defiance burning in his eyes. He wasn't having it! He's been stuck doing these lame ass chores for over a month now! He was done!

He thought that now that he was a ninja, he would be getting respectable ninja missions! Not being a farm hand to a perverted old man that kept trying to flirt with his sensei!

"Akito, show respect to your Hokage and watch your language," Suzuki's scolded. She was a woman in her mid-twenties with straight black hair, matching black eyes, tanned skin and pink lips. She also had a sizable bust and a rump to match.

She was a beauty in every sense of the word; looking like she belonged on the cover of a magazine instead of being a shinobi. There was once a time in her life that she considered it but the ninja life was her dream and she pursued it.

Her full name was Suzuki Kampi. She was a jonin of the hidden leaf, but that was a recent milestone in her career. It had taken her a few years longer than most simply because she hadn't specialized in one field but she wasn't quite a jack of trade.

Sure, she was proficient, even above so, in most fields of shinobi. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, weaponry, tracking, stealth and many others.

However, despite being proficient in these fields, she wasn't good enough in them to be called a jack of trades. She was more of an extreme dabbler; well rounded but with the hint of edges.

She was the current jonin sensei of team thirteen; another milestone considering how she had always wanted to become a sensei. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father was a shinobi. The closest things she had ever had to siblings were the genin that her father trained before he died in the line of duty during the third shinobi war.

She wanted to emulate her father and raise the next generation.

However...it was not as glamorous as her father made it sound.

"Hell no! I did not become a ninja to do a bunch of chores for a bunch of lazy idiots who couldn't be bothered to do the simple crap themselves! Gardening? Catching a cat?! Fucking really?!" Akito raged, earning another sharp look from his sensei but he didn't care.

Akito was orphaned the moment he had been born. His father could have been anyone in a thousand faces and his mother was a whore in the red light district. She had died after childbirth but not because of complications.

His birth had been in a puke and booze filled alleyway and when he had entered the world, his mother tried to stagger off, intending to forget all about him, but slipped and hit her head on a wall; killing her.

Akito was found and named by a faceless drunk that went out to take a piss and stumbled upon the scene. The man had the conscious to bring Akito to the orphanage and dumped him there before heading on his merry way. The only thing he left with him was a note stating his name written in chicken scratch handwriting on a boozed soaked coupon for dango.

It was in that building he was raised for his entire life; the same building that Naruto spent the first four years of his own life. No one wanted him; he had a foul attitude and a mouth to match. However, that didn't matter to him!

He didn't need anyone! He was his own man, always had been and always will be!

"Akito; enough!" Suzuki warned but Akito just tsked before turning away sharply.

"Can it jugs, a few naughty words ain't nothing to get your panties in a knot over," he said dismissively. Akito's insult did little to rile Suzuki; she had long gotten use to Akito's nickname for her, but she was beyond embarrassed! He had just been called 'jugs' in front of the Hokage!

Lavi pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose before he spoke, "Akito-san, you should not speak in such a manner; why? We are in the presence of the Hokage, our leader, and in the presence of a child," he explained in a flat and logical tone.

Lavi was the rookie of the year; the first Aburame to be so in several generations. The title usually went to the Uchiha or the Hyuga and the occasional Inuzuka.

He was very proud of that accomplishment. While Lavi was always calm, collected and calculating; he took great pride in his clan and his insects. As his father claimed, he was a rising star in the shinobi world.

No Aburame ever before had his size of a hive or such a large variety of insects at his age. No Aburame before had such large chakra reserves that he, or she, could preform minor jutsu in addition to his clans techniques.

Lavi knew what his father said was true simply because his father wasn't the type to lie.

Naruto frowned at the mention of his age; he was a ninja now so age didn't matter! Plus, he was six now! Not a child!

Naruto's appearance changed in the past month. Since there wasn't shinobi clothing meant for children; Naruto now wore a forest green vest with a hood with a long sleeved navy blue shirt underneath. His pants were also navy blue with white tape tying them off and black sandals on his feet.

He would be wearing his orange jumpsuit that Gai had secretly given him, but Gai made him promise not to wear it in the open for now. It seemed that his spirit of youth wasn't quite ready to handle the enhancement and he would have to wait until he was older.

Normally, like any six year old would, Naruto would completely disregard the order but Naruto followed it to the letter. He didn't want to be scolded again by his nii-san.

Akito sneered, "I'll say whatever I want bug boy and the fact we have a baby on our team is exactly my point! Why should we spend our time babysitting when we already babysit one brat already?!" the preteen scoffed and earned a twitching eyebrow from Lavi.

Naruto, however, was much more vocal about his disagreement.

"I'M NOT A BABY YOU JERK!" Naruto yelled as he jabbed a finger at Akito.

The offender narrowed his eye's, "Yeah ya' are you brat! You're the biggest baby I've ever met!" he accused and a tic mark formed on Naruto's head.

"Am not! And you're the biggest jerk I've ever met!" Naruto shot back instantly.

A tic mark formed on Akito's head as well, "What did you say you shitty brat?!"

"I called you a jerk you idiot!"

"Call me and idiot one more time and a spanking will be the least of your worries!"

"IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! YOU'RE A GREAT, BIG, DUMB, IDIOT!" Naruto yelled as lightning clashed between his and Akito's eyes.

"I'M GONNA SMACK THE SH-" Akito started to yell back but was cut off by a fist slamming into the top of his head.  
As light faded from Akito's eyes and he slumped over unconscious, revealing that it was Hana that knocked him out.

A tic mark was formed on her head as well; she never really like Akito all that much. He acted too much like the male members of her clan; always barking and yapping away but never doing any biting.

Hana Inuzuka was the clan heiress of the Inuzuka clan. Like Lavi, she took great pride in her clan. She did everything she could to bring honor to her clan even if it's not necessary.

Her clan meant everything to her; it was filled with her friends and her family and she'd give her life for her clan in a heart beat.

However, that was unnecessary so she settled for becoming the greatest hunter-nin the village had ever seen and permanently engrave the Inuzuka name in the elemental nations history!

However, for now, she was stuck with this idiot that got into arguments with a six year old. Though, it wasn't all bad. She liked her sensei and Lavi was alright. Naruto, however, was still the apple of her eye.

The boy was simply the cutest, most adorable little thing she had ever seen!

He was so cute with his big eyes, his pinch-able cheeks and lets not forget about that cocky, childish confidence!

Naruto sent Hana a grin before he stuck his tongue out at Akito's unconscious form. He didn't like Akito in the slightest.

He _always_ made fun of him; calling him baby and brat, making sure Naruto knew that Akito didn't like him either. It bothered him at first, he wanted to be friends with all of his teammates! They were supposed to be like a family.

However, when Naruto realized diplomacy failed, no longer cared and was ready and able at all times to send insults right back at Akito. He never started the fights but by god he would be the one that ended them!

Hiruzen sighed loudly as he watched the display; while it wasn't uncommon for the traditional team to argue like this, team thirteen seemed to be worse than most. Hiruzen honestly wondered how this team managed to pass. His eyes flickered to Suzuki, who looked just as exasperated as he was, but quickly dismissed the thoughts that she passed the team just so she could have a genin team. She was a jonin of his village and she knew better.

Hana rubbed her sore knuckles, Akito had a hard head, before she said, "Akito's kinda right though," she admitted, "I'm getting sick of these chores as well,"

Lavi nodded in agreement, "I concur; why? With our skill set, and our villages precarious position, we should be put to better use and take higher paying missions to bring our village more revenue," he said as he fixed his glasses.

Hiruzen looked mildly impressed and just as disturbed. He knew Lavi had an incredibly sharp mind for his age but he was disturbed that if this child could see through the facade they were still showing; who else could?

Suzuki's eyes widened before she looked deep in thought, _'he's right. They're too good to just have them sitting around pulling weeds but are they ready for a C-rank?'_ she wondered as she examined her team.

Hana looked eager, Lavi looked uncaring, Akito looked unconscious. She didn't bother with Naruto simply because he wasn't technically on her team and it would be up to Kakashi if he was able to tag along.

_'Their teamwork is severally lacking when it comes to Akito but they seem to already have a poor opinion of him due to the academy so that's to be expected...however, that might change if they overcome challenges together,'_ she debated with herself.

Nothing forged deeper bonds than suffering together. Bonds forged in the flames of war and with the blood of enemies. She tried to replicate the effect with harsh training and teamwork exercises but it wasn't having a real effect.

If anything, it caused the two's opinion of Akito to worsen because of his uncaring attitude and aggressive nature.

Then again; for the type of bond and comradeship she was looking for, the genin needed to be placed in a dangerous situation when the only options were working together or death.

Her eyes caught a look from the Hokage and he gave her a gentle nod. He understood what was going through Suzuki's mind because he's seen the same look on hundreds of jonin before her. It was a very common mental debate for jonin with their first genin team.

Suzuki repressed a sigh, "All right, we'll take a C-rank," she said with a hint of a sad tone. She knew it was for the greater good, and unavoidable, but it saddened her a bit that her genin were about to get their first real peek at the real shinobi world.

"HELL YEAH!" Akito yelled as he catapulted up, a broad smile on his face, "FINALLY A REAL MISSION!" he yelled as he threw to fists in the air.

For once, none of the genin commented on Akito's language simply because they were all agreeing with him.

* * *

Naruto leapt from building to building with near blinding speed; while he was fast normally, it was like he was trying to reach warp speed. He couldn't help it however, he was excited!

Team thirteen was finally going on a real mission! Suzuki, he didn't call her sensei since she didn't each him, that was Kakashi's job, picked out an awesome sounding mission! They were going to escort a merchant back to the land of Tea, just north west of the land of Fire.

It was a week long trip, since they were going civilian speed, but Naruto was sure that Kakashi would give the okay. The silver haired man talked about getting a minor C-ranked mission soon to get some experience under his belt as soon as possible.

As Naruto neared his usual training ground, he began running out of houses to jump on so he hopped of onto the ground. He raced threw the village's streets, dodging and weaving through the civilians like it was a game.

If it was one then he probably would have lost points when he knocked over a cabbage cart.

"AHHH, MY CABBAGE," the man wailed like Naruto had just murdered his first born.

"Sorry," Naruto called out over his shoulder as he rounded a corner but slammed face first into a wall. He fell backwards, holding his nose that he was sure was broken, and groaned in pain.

"Oh! You okay kid?" the wall asked, causing Naruto to look up in confusion, since when did walls speak?

He saw a man roughly Kakashi's age with black hair that almost reached his shoulders, deeply tanned skin, brown eyes and a dark jacket with fur around the hood.

Asuma looked down at the kid with a confused look; the kid hit him at speeds that were impossible his age. After all this kid was maybe six years old? There was no way for him to have accessed his chakra at that age but there was no other way for the boy to be moving at such speeds.

Then he noticed the headband on the boys forehead and his brow furrowed further. This kid was a genin? And wasn't his father all about giving the next generation childhoods and lives free of bloodshed?

Asuma mentally sneered; he should be so surprised. His father was a hypocrite down to his very core.

He was just recalled back to the village due to some of the twelve guardians attempting a coup against the Hokage and Daimyo. Nearly all the members being killed during it and only Asuma and two others managed to survive the battle. He wanted to stay by the Daimyo's side; to keep the man he slew his comrades for safe, however his father had been insistent. The fact that the Daimyo was less than trusting after the debacle didn't help in the slightest.

So, here he was, back in Konoha against his will and back under his fathers thumb.

Though...it wasn't all bad. He got to see Kurenai again, he even gotten her to agree to a date to catch up! He was in the middle of it, she went to 'powder her nose', whatever than meant, and he was waiting outside of the restaurant they had been eating at.

He was going over one of his stories, trying to find the best places to exaggerate, when the boy hit him at speeds you'd think the devil himself was snapping at his heels.

Naruto clenched his nose and his wound was quickly healing, and nodded, making a nasally 'a-huh'.

Asuma rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, about your nose," he said a bit weakly, trying to figure out who this kid was. He knew he's seen him before but he just couldn't place where! If he was already a ninja then he was likely from one of the major clans but the only ones with blonde hair were the Yamanaka's and the only kid they had at the boy's age, as far as he knew, was the clan head's daughter.

"It's fine," Naruto dismissed as he wiped any excess blood on his sleeve.

"So...whats your name kid," Asuma asked, earning a slightly annoyed look from Naruto. Couldn't this guy tell that he was in a hurry?!

However, Naruto loved meeting new people, hoping he could make a good impression of him before the village got to them, and gave Asuma a thumbs up and a smile, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! It's a pleasure to meet you!" he said as his teeth sparkled in the mid day light.

Asuma's face remained impassive but on the inside he seethed anger. So not only did his father make this kid a ninja years before he should even think about the career but he's going to turn this kid into the villages weapon?!

How in the hell did Kakashi let this happen? He was one of the ones that stopped Kakashi from raining hell on the village when he was denied the adoption, so he knew how much Kakashi cared for Naruto. So how in the hell did Kakashi allow his father to weaponize Naruto?!

His anger must have showed when he noticed the a sad look pass over the boys face, apparently he was unconsciously leaking killing intent, "I'm sorry I-" he started but Naruto cut him off.

"It was nice meeting you but I have to find my nii-san," he said, his bangs hiding his sad eyes, before he took off at warp speed.

Asuma stood there feeling like a total ass.

* * *

Naruto reached training ground seven minutes later. He was still upset about the man's scary aura the moment he figured out who he was but he figured it was to be expected. He was use to people hating him but it didn't make it hurt less.

However, he put the encounter to the back of his mind and entered the clearing, where he saw his nii-san standing.

"Kakashi-nii!" he greeted as he skidded to a halt a few feet away, eager to begin today's lesson and ask him of he could go on the mission.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted as he placed his book back in his ninja pouch, specially designed to protect he favorite book from the elements and hazards of being a ninja. It cost several small fortunes to make put it was worth every single ryo if it kept precious safe.

"So what are we learning today?!" Naruto half asked, half exclaimed.

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile, "Today were giving you the resistance seal we've been discussing and for the most part you'll spend the day getting use to that," he said as he unsealed his own set of ink and brushes and ordered Naruto to take off his shirt.

Unlike gravity seals or even weights, resistance seals wouldn't stunt Naruto's growth however it was no less effective. The first level felt like you were running with the wind blowing in your face, the second was a stronger wind blowing. The third level felt like you were running through water, the fourth felt like running through a fast moving stream.

Basically, every odd number was a new type of resistance and every even level was a more difficult version.

Naruto grinned as he did what he was instructed and sat down, eagerly awaiting his new seal. The resistance seal was a level six seal and it intrigued him immensely. He was still only at level three so the seal was far beyond his current reach. He would have to wait a good while before could even hope to decode this seal!

Kakashi began placing the seal on the left side of Naruto's chest. Normally you would place it on you stomach but that spot was already taken.

Naruto felt the difference the moment he final touches were made and it activated. He didn't feel any wind blowing in his face but every time he moved, he moved with the same difficulty as if there was a strong wind.

Naruto grinned, "soo coool," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. Fuinjutsu was by far the greatest ninja art!

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile, "Glad you think so; now, make me thirty clones," he commanded. He raised the maximum number of clones when Naruto became a genin. Naruto was already, counting his not so secret training sessions, making closer to thirty clones anyway.

Silently, Naruto crossed his fingers and the clearing was filled with copies of the original.

"Good, now, the clones come with me while the original runs five laps around the village!"

Naruto's reaction wasn't one that you would expect.

"YOSH! If I can't run five laps then I'll do twenty using nothing but my hands!" he vowed to himself before he took off, his clones wishing him luck.

Kakashi turned back to the clones, after making his own shadow clone to watch over Naruto, "Now for you guys," he said before he began counting, "the fifteen of you will be working on your chakra control. The first five will be working on the leaf exercise while the rest of you water walk," he commanded and the clones went off to obey the order.

Unlike most clones, they weren't grumbling about how their creator was lazy since Naruto was working harder than them. It was a very rare occurrence.

"Now, for the other fifteen; five of you will be working with me on taijutsu, another five will be working on your new kenjutsu style, the Bloody whirlpool style, and the last five will be working on weapon throwing," he instructed before going into further detail about how exactly they will be training.

As the clones got to work Kakashi truly appreciated just how broken of a jutsu the shadow clone jutsu was. It was complexly unique and well worth it's massive chakra cost.

Unlike elemental clones, the shadow clones were a complete copy of the creator. They had internal organs, blood vessels, chakra network, muscle, and, most importantly, the same brain. Normal clones didn't have that; a water clone was just water in the shape if the creator and a mud clone was just mud.

It was because of that seemingly minor difference that the jutsu had such amazing abilities. The reason why it was able to transfer memories to the original was because they had the exact same brain makeup. They had the same synapses, the same neurons so when the clone was dispelled, it tricked the creators brain into thinking that it had done what the clones did.

It was the same with muscle training. While the clones couldn't send muscle to the creator; they could send muscle memory. That was for the same reason why the clone sent the memories. It tricked the users muscle's into thinking that they were the ones that went through the motions thousands of times.

The only real drawbacks were the fact that the clones dispelled with a few good hits. That was because, as complete of a clone it was, they were made of chakra and couldn't maintain their shape once popped. To get a visual; think of a balloon being popped and the air escaping.

Same basic idea.

The other was the fact that the clones could royally screw the creator. Clones were lazy; they didn't like the fact that they had been created for the sole purpose of doing the things the creator didn't want to do. So, they sometimes half assed things.

That was bad because if Naruto's clones half assed learning how to kick, when Naruto dispelled them; Naruto's muscle memory would be telling him to do a half assed kick.

Another potential problem could have arisen but it had been quelled before it even began. When the second Hokage made the jutsu; he made the clones pre-programed with the knowledge that they weren't the original.

If he hadn't done that then the clones would be fighting their boss for the title of the creator and the army of clones you just created were now against you.

Shaking his head at the jutsu, thinking that the second Hokage had been a brilliant man for creating such a jutsu, he whipped out his book and resumed reading. Though, he did keep an eye on the clones to make sure they were doing the job right.

_'Fu fu fu; oh, what a naughty girl you are Izumo-chan,'_ he thought, thankful for his mask hiding his reddened cheeks.

* * *

Naruto collapsed. He was done and dear god he was glad for it! It had taken him eight and a half hours to finish but he did it!

The first four hours were him running around the village. While Naruto would be extremely hard pressed to complete such a challenge even on his best day and the resistance seal made it so much worse!

After that then they continued his physical training with repetitive punches, kicks, squats, pushups, pull ups and sit ups.  
He got a number of breaks during his training but that didn't stop everything from hurting down to the last millimeter!

With a grunt, Naruto turned onto his back and let the cold night air cool him. It was nearing ten o'clock and he was getting sleepy.

"So your finally done?" Kakashi asked as he walked up, amused by the sight of the devilish looking Naruto. It looked like he had been dragged from Konoha to Iwa and back again; hitting every bump and briar patch on the way.

Naruto grunted with half lidded eyes before they snapped open; the mission! He forgot about asking permission for the mission!

"Kakashi-nii-" Naruto started but was cut off by a hand from Kakashi, "You can go," he said with an eye smile.

Suzuki approached him hours ago and they discussed her plan; putting her genin in a dangerous situation so they would bond.

Despite sounding so...well, dangerous and stupid, it was a commonly used plan for jonin sensei's with problem teams. As sad as it was, nothing formed deeper bonds than near death experiences.

Suzuki had personally asked him to come because she wanted to make sure things didn't go south. She admitted she only gotten the rank jonin by the skin of her teeth and didn't want to risk the kids lives in the off chance she got over her head.  
Kakashi respected that and agreed and the discussed the route for the trip tomorrow and agreed on a certain highway.

It was a highway known for it's bandit activity. Konoha cleared the stretch of road at least twice every year but the bandits proved to be cockroaches and kept popping up no matter how many times they squashed them.

They stayed with that stretch of road because it was a popular trade route. It ran through several big cities between the land of Earth and the land of Fire. It was always ripe with travelers and merchants so the threat of shinobi did little to frighten them.

Despite Naruto's exhaustion, Naruto grinned, "Really?! Awesome! I'll...go...pack...Zzzz," Naruto said before excitement quickly wore off and he slumped over asleep.

Kakashi chuckled as he picked Naruto up, "You can come out now Akito; Naruto's asleep," he said, calling out into the dark forest. Seconds later a scowling Akito entered the clearing with crossed arms.

Kakashi, or rather his clone, caught Akito following Naruto after his fourth lap. The boy didn't seem to have an unhealthy motive and Kakashi already had an idea why Akito was following Naruto.

"He pushed himself to the point of collapsing but don't worry; he'll be okay for the mission tomorrow," Kakashi said as he gave the brown haired boy an eye smile.

Akito sneered as he rolled his eyes, but seconds later his features softened, "Are...are you really going to bring him on the mission tomorrow?" Akito asked in a guarded tone, causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow.

"It there a reason he shouldn't?"

Akito sneered again, "I'm not stupid cyclops. I know that jugs picked the mission that had a good chance for bandits; some bullshit about bonds and garbage," he said dismissively and earned a surprised look from Kakashi.

_'Ahh...seems like there's more to you than meets the eye Akito,'_ Kakashi thought before he decided to fake obliviousness, "Very astute of you Aki-kun, however, I still don't see your point,"

Akito fidgeted before he let out his worries in a slue of words, "Don't you think he's a bit to young for that shit? Killing and stuff?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, he was right; Akito cared more than he let on.

"Yes, I do," Kakashi admitted, "however, Naruto's a ninja before he's a child," he replied as he began to walk but as he passed the conflicted looking Akito, he continued, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let him do the killing stuff any time soon," he said before he disappeared into the woods.

Akito returned to the orphanage minutes later, laying in bed but not sleeping; the sliver haired mans words reverberating in his mind.

* * *

Naruto awoke feeling completely refreshed. It was thanks to his healing ability, his Uzumaki genes and the ability being augmented by the kyuubi, his ability was neigh on regeneration.

Cuts and gashes healed in seconds, broken bones healed in hours and, though he hoped he never had to find out, missing limbs regenerated in days. He was immune to all poisons and toxins; something that had been tested by Anko and the villagers.

Anko was trying to build up his immunity; it didn't matter how strong you were when you were injected with an antidote-less venom. However, her efforts were pointless to her surprise. Naruto's reaction to poison strong enough to kill him several times over (this was after she was sure he was immune to most poisons of course) was that he had to use the restroom for an hour or two.

He yawned loudly, struggling to recall yesterdays events but a huge smile found it's way on his face when he did; today was the day of his first real mission! He was going to see the outside world for the first time!

Throwing off his covers, he jumped out of bed. His clock said it was only six o'clock in the morning so that meant he had to hours to prepare! Plenty of time due to the fact that he always had a pack filled with necessities ready to go at any time; the only thing he head to pack was a few more sets of clothes and a few other odds and ends.

Naruto grabbed his clothes from the varies piles they were in and sealed them in a scroll before tucking said scroll in his kunai pouch.

Sighing contently, he walked out his apartment and went to get some breakfast at Ichiraku's. He knew it probably wasn't the healthiest of breakfast but he couldn't care less.

Ramen was food for the gods! Nothing could compare to the heaven that was ramen; NOTHING!

He arrived at the ramen bar minutes later and climbed up his favorite stool; it spun and gave him a clear view of the kitchen.

"Ahh! Naruto-kun; your the first customer of the day!" Teuchi said with a kind smile; remembering how Kushina had always been his first customer everyday when she didn't have missions.

Naruto grinned, "Can I have two miso with egg and one with pork please?" he asked though he already knew the answer.  
Naruto ate here every morning he could. He missed some days because of training but he ate here at least three days out of every week. While Kakashi, and Anko, warned him about how unhealthy ramen was; he couldn't stop himself! It was soooooo gooood!

As Teuchi went to work Ayame walked out of the back room, yawning loudly. After clearing sleep from her eyes, she opened them and saw Naruto was yet again having ramen for breakfast.

"Hey shorty," Ayame greeted, refusing to let the fact Naruto was short go. She now knew Naruto was a legitimate ninja of course but that didn't mean she was going to give up teasing the boy.

He was so much fun and she always got an amusing reaction.

Naruto puffed out his cheeks as he narrowed his eyes, "I'm not short," he grumbled but Ayame disagreed whole heartily, "yes you are!"

Before Ayame and Naruto's argument could begin, as it always did, Teuchi placed the bowls of ramen in front of Naruto.

He offered the boy a wink as Naruto broke apart his chopsticks, "Don't mind her comments Naruto-kun, I slipped something in that'll help you grow," he said and Naruto smiled as he took his first bite.

Teuchi had slipped in a multivitamin that melted in the broth. It was top of the shelf stuff too but the cost was well worth it. Naruto had already taken the place of his favorite customer and that he was the son of his past favorite customers only helped.

After Naruto finished off his breakfast, at a near record breaking speed, he paid for his meal and waved goodbye at the two. He liked Teuchi and Ayame, even if she did call him short. He counted them as his friends and they were the ones that made it where he couldn't count all of his friends on two hands.

He had cried tears of joy when he realized that.

Anyway, Naruto was off to the main gate, it was nearing eight o'clock so Naruto figured he should start heading over.  
During his trip, he ran into Lavi, "Hey, Lavi," Naruto called out as he picked up his speed, thee steps for every one Lavi took.

The stoic teenager turned around, "Uzumaki-san; how are you," he inquired in a flat tone.

At first, Lavi's stoicism threw Naruto off. While he liked to think himself a good judge of character; he couldn't tell what kind of person Lavi was. He couldn't tell of the Aburame didn't like him or if he simply treated everyone with a cold indifference.

However, as the month passed and the began to work together, Naruto liked to think that Lavi was another one of his friends. He was still stoic as ever but he wasn't as short answered with him as he was, for example, Akito.

Naruto smiled, "I'm good! I got to eat at Ichiraku's this morning," he replied, trying to engage the Aburame in small talk.

Lavi fixed his glasses, "You shouldn't eat so much ramen Uzumaki-san; why? It is highly unhealthy for you due to the fact it is high in sodium and offers very little in nutrition,"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "You sound just like Kakashi-nii and Anko-nee," he muttered in mild annoyance. He took personal offense when someone insulted ramen.

"Perhaps I sound like them because we are right," Lavi said with an indifferent shrug.

Deciding to switch the topic, so his ramen would have to suffer any more insults, "So you ready for the mission?" Naruto asked, noting the backpack on Lavi's shoulders. Why people didn't simply seal their stuff in scrolls, like he did, was beyond him.

Lavi nodded, "I have packed all the essentials,"

Naruto floundered for a moment; it was incredibly hard to keep a conversation going with this guy!

However, his efforts were not needed for they had arrived at the villages gates.

"Took you two long enough," Akito muttered as he narrowed his eyes. Lavi and Naruto both rose an eyebrow, surprised at the fact that Akito was the one that arrived before them.

"How surprising that you are here before us; why? You have a history of showing up late," Lavi commented as he took his place next to Suzuki. They were waiting for their client to show up.

Akito rolled his eyes, "That was in the academy; I couldn't care less about that but this is a mission. It's different," he replied with a shrug. Hana, who stood next to Akito, gave a nod of approval, understanding Akito's reasoning.

The academy had been so boring that she had been more than tempted to skip a few times; though she never did because she knew she'd get caught. Her mother had an uncanny ability to catch her when she did something; no matter what it was.

Naruto chuckled, they didn't know the meaning of late until they experienced Kakashi-nii's abilities. While he was usually on time for him; Naruto soon figured out that he was, at minimum, two hours late for anything else.

Suzuki saw this and sent Naruto a smirk, "I told Kakashi that we were leaving at six," she informed, causing Naruto to burst in spiels of giggles. Apparently someone other than him understood his nii-sans antics.

Suzuki rose an eyebrow as she examined the giggling boy. She wasn't going to lie; when the Hokage told her that she and her team would be working conjointly with the kyuubi jinchuuriki, she had been unhappy.

She trusted the fourths sealing abilities, he had been a renowned master after all, her reservations came from his mental health. She dabbled in psychology and she knew that due to his treatment from the village he was likely to become apathetic, if not murderous.

She didn't want him around her team simply because your genin team became your second family. They were the ones you shed blood, sweat, and tears with and you became very close in that year or two you spent together.

She didn't want her team to have any attachments to Naruto when he likely snapped; not only would they be villainized by association but it would have the same effect as a family member snapping and becoming a serial killer.

However, in the past month, she slowly got to know Naruto and her worries diminished. The boy seemed to have a very sound mind despite his treatment from the village. She would keep an eye on him just to be sure but she didn't feel as many reservations when it came to the boy.

Minutes later, at exactly eight o'clock, their client and a mildly miffed looking Kakashi strolled up to the village's gate.

Their client was a jolly looking man; thick around the waist and rosy red cheeks. The image was only enhanced by the happy smile adorned on his face as he walked up.

"Hello Kampi-san, Aburame-san, Inuzuka-san, Akito-san, and Uzumaki-san," he greeted them each in turn with a small bow.

Suzuki smiled lightly, thinking that it was a good thing that their client for her teams first real mission was a good man, "Hello Mazki-san, I hope you are ready for the trip," she replied.

Mazki was a merchant from the land of Tea; a rather good one if you believed the rumors. He inherited his business from his parents, who were retired shinobi. He learned much from them before they passed away and left the business to him.  
Originally, it was only importing and exporting tea; nothing glamorous nor impressive but that changed when he used his parents teachings in business.

He was ruthless and didn't hesitate to use underhanded tactics nor the use of violence to drive out his competition. He had dozens, if not hundreds, of contacts throughout the crime world.

However, none of this could be proven since he used hundreds of aliases and decoy's.

Since then his business took off. He was now one of the leading exporters in the land of Tea. Instead of selling simple tea, he now sold luxury items, antiques, exotic animals, weapons and so many more.

No one even suspected him in these illegal dealings; after all, who would suspect the man that looked like Santa to be a international crime lord?

Mazki slapped his belly in mirth, "Why of course I am! This isn't my first time traveling you know," the man said with a smile, which everyone returned. The mans smile was infectious!

Suzuki felt a flash of guilt for endangering the jolly man but she vowed for him not to come to any harm. It wasn't likely anyway since they had the copycat ninja and four genin protecting the man from simple bandits.

Suzuki then turned and aimed her smile at Kakashi, "It's also good to see you on time Hatake-san," she said and Kakashi gave her an eye smile in return.

"Oh, it seems that the road of life just happened to bring me by here," he responded, vowing to be at least four hours late for anything that involved the women. He hated being manipulated.

Suzuki turned to her genin, "Now, all of you have everything, correct," she asked and got nods from everyone but her eye's narrowed when she saw the lack of a backpack on Naruto.

However, before she could even ask, Naruto answered, "fuinjutsu," he said simply and Suzuki nodded before the seven of them headed out, however, as they began to leave the village, a voice stopped them.

"NARUTO," a voice that belonged to a child called out, causing everyone to turn around.

When they did, they saw Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha standing at the village gate, "Sasuke?" Naruto muttered in a surprised tone, not sure why his friend was here.

"I heard you were going on you first real mission so I asked nii-san if I could see you off," Sasuke explained with a hint of a nervous smile. He hadn't seen much of his only friend lately and he was beginning to worry.

Did Naruto not want to be friends with him anymore? Did he do something wrong? Or was just shinobi duties that kept them apart?

Naruto looked confused for a moment before a face consuming grin found it's way on his face, "Really?" though he knew his friend wasn't lying.

Sasuke smiled back and nodded, and Naruto felt relief wash over him. He had thought a lot about Kakashi's words, how his friendship with Sasuke would be strained because of his career. He tried to make time to play with his friend, he really did!

He tried finishing his training early but he was always too tired afterwards to do anything other than sleep. He tried to play with Sasuke during Anko-nee's training sessions, when they would play hide and seek, but she always caught him moments after he arrived.

Nothing was working and Naruto was beginning to understand Kakashi's words; his friendship was losing it's strength quickly...but what could he do? He couldn't be in two places at once!

The thought struck Naruto like a sac filled with bricks. Slowly, his signature grin tugged at his lips as he took out one of his numerous scrolls and handed it to Sasuke. the black haired boy looked confused for a moment and Naruto told him his plan.

"There's a couple of my shadow clones in the scroll," he explained. Ever since his first fight with Itachi, he always kept a few clones that were henged into ninja weapons in a scroll.

Sasuke still looked confused so Naruto continued, "I get the memories from my clones and they're copies from me. I can't play, since I have ninja stuff to do, but you can play with my clones! Same basic thing though they pop if you get to rough with them!" he explained.

Sasuke paused before a joyful smile replaced confusion and he took the scroll from Naruto, "I'm not sure how many are in there but it should be enough until I get back,"

Sasuke nodded and tucked the scroll into his pocket as the on lookers smiled at the display of friendship. However, it was Itachi who broke up the bonding moment out of necessity.

"Come little brother, Naruto must leave for his mission," he said as he placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, causing the boy to nod.

"Okay nii-san, bye Naruto!" Sasuke said as Naruto resumed walking away, waving bye.

"See'ya Sasuke!" Naruto returned as he took his first steps out of the village; officially becoming a traveler.

* * *

Kurotsuchi silently and effectively loaded her backpack with necessities for a week long mission. Her objective was only three days away but the actually mission would take four days to complete.

Her, and her team, would be eliminating the bandits that have been terrorizing the one of the major roads that lead to the land of Tea, and near her home, the land of Earth.

Usually, this mission was given to Konoha but it was given to Iwa instead. Apparently the client was getting tired of having to pay for the same mission twice a year. Iwa, always wanting to show up Konoha, took the mission and were going to quell the bandits permanently.

It was a three day trip at shinobi speeds but they would be spending a minimum of four more days clearing out every group of bandits near the highway; making sure they never dared to return.

It was her first mission of this nature. Kurotsuchi had been a ninja for a year but her sensei, and father, wanted to hold off getting his baby girls hands soaked in blood. She was only eight years old after all.

Her team wouldn't be working alone either; two more teams were accompanying them. One was an experienced genin team; a year old like them but they had dozens of these kinds of missions beneath their belts. The other team was a fresh genin team, barely three months old before their sensei volunteered for the mission. Some would say that was a bit soon however, Iwa wasn't Konoha and they didn't believe giving their future soldiers a childhood. If they were going to be shinobi then they should be raised as shinobi.

Her grandfather, the Tsuchikage, decided that he had held off long enough and gave him this mission to complete.  
Kurotsuchi double checked everything before she threw her pack onto her shoulders and walked out her home, joining her father that waited outside.

"Hey pops," she greeted, causing her father to scowl, amusing her immensely.

"Were going on a mission Kurotsuchi, you will refer to me as sensei," he scolded half heartily. It didn't expect his daughter to change nor did he want her too. She reminded him greatly of his late wife, who was killed in the third shinobi war.

"Sorry, pops-sensei," Kurotsuchi amended with a smile, causing a rueful grin to plant itself onto her fathers face. It was a hobby of hers to call strong people rude names, simply because of their hilarious reactions. When she called her grandpa old, he always sputtered in disbelief; he was a man that fought Madara Uchiha and survived! He was still one of the strongest men in the world!

However, it was due to those facts that when an eight year old girl called him old and wrinkly, he was at a complete loss.

The duo arrived at the villages gates and saw the other members of their team. There was a blonde with hair that covered his left eye. Deidara was average height for a ten year old but his attitude was twice as arrogant as any child.

He always ranted and preached about how great art was and was constantly blowing things up!

Kurotsuchi's other teammate was the polar opposite. Akatsuchi was a large, and a bit thick, eleven year old that was as kind and loyal as you could be. He never raised his voice, except when you made a comment about his weight, and would spit in the eye of the devil himself to protect a friend.

"Hey Kuro-chan~" Deidara greeted and was backed by, "Hey Kurotsuchi," Akatsuchi greeted.

Despite Deidara's usual hyper greeting, both boys looked somber. They knew what they were about to do and while they felt proud they were about to go through the blooding; getting your first kill and becoming true shinobi; they felt a pit in their stomach.

"Hey guys," she greeted in the same somber tone. Despite her earlier teasing, she felt the same pit of nervousness and trepidation.

Kitsuchi watched his genin and let out a soft sigh, "Alright, if all of you have everything; lets hit the road," he said before they, and the other two teams, sprinted through the gates.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**Yes, I know Kiba is the clan heir but that always struck me as odd. If he had an older sister; shouldn't she be the clan heir? This leads me to believe that she either didn't want it or something happened that made the title ill fit for her.**

**Also, the paring still isn't set yet. Kurotsuchi was always going to be apart of the story so there still is a chance that my mind might change.**

**Leave a review! They're food for inspiration and in turn gives you chapters quicker!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, before you start the chapter I want to warn you guys; this chapter takes a big turn from other chapters. Up until now its been a lot of 'awwww' but now I'm going to start dealing with the messier side of being a shinobi. ****  
**

**Also, I've decided that Kurotsuchi's gonna be the paring. So sorry if that disappoints any of you.**

**Now thats out the way, enjoy the chapter and leave a review when your done!**

Naruto munched on some...something. He wasn't sure what it was now; in the beginning it was a salamander, a big one too, but now it looked like a blackened charcoal lump on a stick. It tasted okay enough, especially when you considered that at one point of Naruto's life he was drinking milk extra chunky.

So, anything better than that was decent.

"This thing is straight up charcoal! Meat isn't supposed to be crunchy!" Akito complained as he started to toss away his meal but it was caught by Naruto.

"How do you suck this much as cooking? Or, better yet, why in the hell did you offer when you suck this much?!" Akito wondered sarcastically as he sent a glare at Hana.

Hana narrowed her eyes and growled, being supported by the three Haimaru brothers, the three canines that were her companions, "Shut it Akito," she growled. She didn't need to feel anymore embarrassed!

Her mother always said that she had no talent in the kitchen but she always tried to prove her wrong. That's why she took the opportunity to cook every chance she got!

It was her first chance on the fifth day on their seven day trip. Everyone up until then had prepared their own small breakfast and lunch typically consisted of things you can eat while on the move and dinner was a meal you prepared yourself. However, as they were walking they stumbled upon the salamanders and decided to eat them for a change of pace.

"Naruto seems to like them," she shot back, her pride mending itself at the fact. Akito turned to get a look at Naruto and nearly burst out laughing when he did.

The mostly blonde boy was taking alternating bites from his salamander sticks, unable to decide which one he liked best. He was tearing into the sticks but at the same time he was perfectly reserved. He ate like a wild animal but at the same time he was perfectly tame. No food was flying everywhere nor was there a mess yet he looked like a starving animal that hadn't seen food in weeks.

It was a truly amazing sight.

However, it wasn't enough to keep Akito from mocking the both of them.

"That's because he doesn't have any taste-buds! How else could he eat ramen all the-DON'T YOU DARE INSULT RAMEN!" Naruto interrupted with a mouth full of food. He glared and Akito met it.

"Uzumaki-san, Akito-san; it is not wise to raise your voices in unknown territories," Lavi scolded as he nibbled on the burnt salamander to be polite. The effect was immediate; Naruto looked sheepish and the anger left his eyes. Akito, however, was a different story.

"I'll talk as loud as I want bug boy!" He said and took an angry swig from his canteen to emphasize his point.

Lavi's eyebrow twitched; if one thing and one thing only ever got under his skin, it was comments like that. That teasing about his clans techniques and their abilities. Akito seemed to know this so most of his insults revolved around it.

Akito smirked when he saw the twitch. He felt rather honored that he was one of the few that could get a reaction out of an Aburame. They almost seemed like robots with how stoic they were.

"Speaking about your bugs; I heard that you had a bunch of kinds," Naruto inquired, his head lightly tilted to the left in interest. From his readings and Kakashi's lessons; most Aburame only had kikaichu.

That was because of the bugs ability to mature quickly and evolve even faster. They were a very versatile species so most stuck with them.

A look of pride passed over Lavi's hidden face before he nodded, "You are correct Uzumaki-san; I have a total of three different species," he answered. He was the only Aburame in dozens of generations to accomplish such a feat. A feat that hasn't happened since the waring clan era.

"Really?! What kinds?" Naruto asked, looking completely fascinated. Everyone else on the other hand, looked mildly grossed out and Mazaki looked clueless since he didn't know where Lavi's bugs resided.

"I have my kikaichu, the most common insect among my clan," he raised a finger and Naruto saw a small insect standing atop of it.

"The second species is the hornet," Lavi continued but Naruto asked a question.

"Why do you have hornets if you already have kikaichu?"

Lavi fixed his glasses before answering, "During the third shinobi war, my clan stole several queen hornets from a clan from Iwa that also specialized in insect ninjutsu. My father was one of the ones that stole a queen and I was given the option to attempt to merge the hornets with my preexisting hive of kikaichu when I was a child," he explained and took a deep breath before continuing.

"This was very dangerous; why? Because hornets are a very evasive species of insect and tend to kill off any other insect in their territory. If I failed to merge them with my hive then they would have killed off my kikaichu and I would only have them.

However, I merged them with the help of sugar water, small insects, soothing music to relax them, and remaining still and calm for several days undisturbed," Lavi finished and took a swig from his canteen, feeling slightly out of breath from his long winded speech.

Everyone looked kind of awed; they had never seen an Aburame speak so much at one time.

"Wow," Naruto said amazed, "what about you're third species? What about them?!" he asked in an excited tone.

Lavi fixed his glasses, "I am not at liberty to say; why? It is a secret among my clan," he replied, feeling slightly disappointed. There were few that were interested in his clan and he was repaying Naruto's interest without giving him answers.

However, Naruto nodded. He was a bit disappointed but Kakashi-nii told him about the need for secrecy about one's skills.

"Ohh...well, can I see one of the hornets then?" Naruto asked and was answered with a nod from Lavi.

Soundlessly, a hornet the size of Lavi's finger crawled from Lavi's cuff and onto his hand.

Hana eeked loudly as she backed away, Akito jumped away, the two jonin grimaced, thinking that it was gross that he had those inside of him, Mazaki outright fainted.

"Woah! It's so big*!" Naruto exclaimed as he leaned forward.

"That's so gross bug boy! You have that shit inside of you?!" Akito yelled in disgust. He could handle the fact that Lavi had bugs in him, but knowing the fact that he had a bunch of hornets the size of a finger was simply too much! It was by far the grossest thing he had ever seen!

Lavi narrowed his eyes though it was hard to tell due to the fact his eyes were hidden behind his glasses. He didn't respond verbally because he was too busy suppressing the urge to command his hornet to sting Akito. The only reason he didn't was because he didn't want his hornet to die.

"That was very rude of you Akito; apologize," Suzuki said in a serious tone as she narrowed her eyes.

Akito rolled his eyes until he was hit with a blast of killing intent. He tensed, surprised that his sensei would use actual killing intent before he muttered, "S-s-sorry." the moment he said the word the killing intent vanished and he wiped away sweat that was gathering on his forehead and let out a small sigh of relief.

It wasn't even close to being his first encounter with killing intent but it was with the potent stuff.

"Those are Lavi's abilities you're making fun of; do not do that again Akito," she warned as she let her eyes narrow into a glare to emphasize her point. When she didn't get a smart-ass remark she felt a surge of pride. Maybe all Akito needed was to be strong handed every once in a while.

She was reluctant to do so in the beginning since genin teams were supposed to be like family and she didn't want to put a wedge between Akito and her. She never had a mother and neither did Akito so wasn't sure how to scold him or punish him without driving in that wedge. To make matters worse; since Akito grew up without parents, he wasn't use to being scolded and reacted to it with sarcasm and some rather choice words.

However, after watching Kakashi and Naruto interact and getting a few tips from her colleagues, she lost most of the fear. She just hoped that Akito would be thanking her in the long run.

"Yeah it was," Hana supported, feeling a flash of guilt for her initial reaction, "I'll never know how Naruto's such a little angel and you're a complete ass," she muttered under her breath but Akito heard it.

"I'll never understand how you're such a bitch," he spat with angry eyes. Hana narrowed hers but before she could retort, Suzuki stepped in again.

"Enough! Both of you," she commanded in a stern tone and once again sending out a small amount of killing intent to make both of them stand down. Hana leaned back and relaxed, though she still wore a glare, while Akito tsked before standing and announcing he was going to sleep.

Suzuki felt a pang of guilt; perhaps she had been a little harsh? After all, Hana had started that fight...she should apologize to him later...or would that undermine her authority? She wanted to reign in his bad behavior but she didn't want him to hate her for it.

Suzuki was snapped out of her thoughts when Kakashi gave her a subtle thumbs up; vanquishing her worries. So she hadn't been too stern; good to know.

"Inuzuka-san has raised a very good point; why does Uzumaki-san act so well-behaved considering the environment he was raised in?" Lavi enquired in a flat tone as he examined the boy in question. It was something that bothered him for a long time.

As bad as it sounded, most orphans were problem children. While Akito was an extreme example; a lot of them acted like him to a much lesser extent.

Kakashi narrowed his eye, wondering if Lavi was making a reference to the way the village treated Naruto or just him being an orphan in general. However, regardless, it was a good question.

Naruto noticed that all eyes were trained on him, expecting an answer. He felt his face flush; he already knew the answer, he was just embarrassed to answer it.

He fidgeted under their gazes before he answered, "I read a book that said people like people with manners...so...I thought if I had really good manners then people would...," he trailed off with a sad gleam in his eye.

Everyone felt a pang of pity when they heard that but before they could say anything, Naruto got up and announced that he was going to sleep as well. He didn't feel like talking anymore once he was reminded of his treatment in the village.

They were silent for minutes after that, only the crickets and the fire making any noise before Hana said, "Maybe we shouldn't have asked?" she offered and everyone nodded in agreement before turning in for the night except for Kakashi who volunteered to take first watch.

* * *

It was midday of the sixth day into their trip and silence was heavy. While the group argued regularly, Akito seemed to be in a worse mood than usual and even Naruto was keeping his distance from everyone.

Not that there was much room to talk anyways with the formation. Suzuki was point and Lavi was guarding left while Hana, her nin-dogs, and Naruto were guarding right. Akito was in the middle and Kakashi took the rear while reading his favorite book.

The thick silence confused Mazaki greatly. Did something happen when he was out? The last thing he remembered was seeing that horrid hornet crawl out the boys jacket.

One would think that a crime lord would have more of a stomach but that was because he always had others do the dirty work. He simply told them to get the job done; he didn't care if it was by killing someones family or tickling them until they begged for forgiveness.

The group trekked through the forest and up the steep slop; they were walking in a hilly region that would soon give way to actual mountains. The mountain range that Iwa was located was a mere four day trip, shinobi speed, and Kakashi was starting to get a little nervous.

While Naruto had a few changes; he still was unmistakably Minato's son. They just looked to much alike for him to be anyone else's child and if it hadn't been for that announcement about Naruto's looks than everyone would have made the connection.

A few years after Naruto's birth and the sealing of the kyuubi; people started to notice that he bore an uncanny resemblance to the fourth hokage. Sure, his face was largely made out of baby fat but the resemblance was there.

To make sure that no one made the connection and began spreading the word; the third Hokage announced that Naruto's looks were caused by the sealing. Due to the fact that every civilian and most shinobi were ignorant of the sealing arts; they bought the excuse fairly easily.

Some even used it as an excuse to condemn the boy. Saying that it was the fox mocking their dead hero by defiling his face. It also didn't help that the small changes that were made gave him a more fox like appearance. His red tips were nearly the same shade as the kyuubi and he didn't even need to say anything about the whiskers.

Now that they were away from Konoha; they didn't have that announcement to rely on. Anyone with half a brain and a picture of Minato could make the connection and that would be disastrous for Naruto.

Deciding action needed to be taken he called Naruto over, "Oi, Naruto," he said as he gestured for Naruto to fall instep with him. Slightly confused, Naruto did so.

Reaching into his pocket, the same pocket he kept precious in, and pulled out a mask identical to the one he wore. It was one of his spares.

"Wear this," he said as he offered the mask to Naruto who looked even more confused as he accepted the dark blue mask.  
He looked up at his nii-san in confusion. He always thought it was cool that Kakashi wore a mask, kinda like the super hero's he read about in the manga he read occasionally, but he was greatly confused why he was suddenly offering him one. He wasn't going to decline but there had to be a real reason.

Kakashi saw the confused look and said, "There's sulfur deposits in these hills and it stinks something fierce; this will help dull the smell," he lied with a disarming eye smile. Naruto nodded, not fully buying the excuse but trusting his nii-san, before putting it on.

After making a few adjustments, he looked up for approval and got a nod from Kakashi. The mask covered everything below his nose, just like his did, so the only features on display were his mixed cerulean blue and amethyst purple eyes and his mixed blonde and red hair.

Kakashi figured that it would be enough to throw off anyone as long as he kept the mask on.

Naruto smiled beneath his mask before, "Thanks Kakashi-nii," he said before he returned to his station and was blindsided by Hana gushing over Naruto. The others simply watched the two with amused expressions.

"Ohh~your so cute~! Now, give me one of those weird eye smiles that your brother do-" Hana stopped mid sentence as her eyes bugged out and her hands went to cover her nose.

"What is that smell?!" She yelled, her voice sounding nasally. Her nin-dogs whined along with her and confused everyone greatly.

"What are you talking about? I don't smell shit!" Akito dismissed but there was an edge of concern in his tone. As much as he didn't like Hana, he knew she wouldn't just freak out over nothing.

"I don't smell anything either! Is it one of those sulfur deposits that nii-san was talking about?" Naruto enquired, his face a mask of concern.

"Perhaps the reason only Inuzuka-san can smell it is because of her more highly developed sense of smell?" Lavi offered looking concerned as well as he watched Hana wretch.

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he focused chakra to his nose, enhancing it greatly, and took a deep breath. He smelled exactly what Hana was smelling and he fully understood her reaction. He never got use to this smell even though he was very intimate with it.

The stench of charred flesh and burnt hair.

His eye caught Suzuki's and he gave a subtle nod which the woman returned.

"Mazaki-san, with your permission, I would like to investigate the source of the smell Hana is experiencing. It could be dangerous however, so if you don't feel comfortable taking the risk we will continue on our way," Suzuki said as she used a small genjutsu to increase susceptibility.

A blush stained the jolly mans cheeks as Suzuki suddenly became much more attractive; she was already breathtaking before but now she seemed like the most beautiful angel in heaven smiling at him.

Any fear he might have felt vanished without a trace as he nodded dumbly. He walk into the depths of hell if she asked him to!

Suzuki nodded, "Thank you for taking this risk Mazaki-san. You are incredibly brave for doing so," she said before she turned to her team, "Lavi, Hana, Akito; stick to your formation and protect Mazaki-san at all cost. We might run into trouble but it will be nothing to panic over; remember your training and keep a level head and you'll pull through whatever we might run into," she said and got determined looks from the genin.

Akito nodded, already knowing that this was likely apart of the Jonin's plan. When they got to the smell, they would find bandits and a fight to the death would ensue and it was for that reason he sent Naruto a concerned glance.  
He couldn't see his face but he could see the determination glowing in the child's eyes.

He let out a small sigh; despite his initial distaste for the boy, Akito found himself growing fond of the brat. He saw a lot of himself in Naruto and Akito thought he was fucking awesome so, by extension, Naruto must be at least mildly awesome.

...okay, maybe his fondness for Naruto came from some instinctual crap or some other deep reason; either way, he was concerned for the boy.

Akito was brought out of his musings when he turned his head back, he noticed Hana sending him a knowing grin. Akito flushed as he unconvincingly rolled his eyes, "Don't look at me like that when you're that green; I ain't washing vomit out of my clothes mutt breath," he muttered as he pressed forward.

They arrived at the source of the smell minutes later. As they drew near the stench grew stronger; strong enough that Naruto was gagging through his mask and Hana looked absolutely ill.

The source of the stench was a cave. It was a rather large one and it went far back enough that you couldn't see the end of it with chakra enhanced vision. It was likely a network of tunnels.

WARNING: SLIGHT GORE

However, it was not the cave that was causing the ungodly stench. It was the corpses that were splayed inside and out of it.

Their skin was blackened to a crisp, reminding Naruto of the salamander he had eaten the other day. Entire bodies reduced to darkened clumps of carbon and charcoal.

Bodies were piled onto another in the mouth of the cave however they were not stacked with a purpose. No, before they met their end they were crawling over the corpses of their comrades; desperately trying to escape whatever fate dealt them.

Black smoke poured of the bodies, releasing the stench, as more smoke poured from the mouth of the cave leading the team to believe that the network of tunnels were filled with corpses just like the entrance was.

Naruto felt vomit rise in the back of his throat as gazed at the scene; he wanted to look away, to turn away and erase this memory from his mind but he couldn't. His eyes were glued to the scene before him. Every time he tried his eyes would simply find a new detail to be enamored with.

How their bodies were laid; some were still reaching out, trying to crawl away from the massacre. He tried to look away but his eyes found theirs, or what was left; their empty eye sockets accused him. Demanding to know why he hadn't been here to stop this catastrophe; why he wasn't there to help them.

END SLIGHT GORE

He couldn't answer their demands. He could only stare as he heard Hana throwing up in a nearby bush and Suzuki try to wake Mazaki up. He barely even felt it when Kakashi appeared behind him and softly patted him on the head as he examined the scene with him.

_'Well...that explains the lack of bandits,'_ Kakashi thought as he gazed at the scene with an impassive face. He and Suzuki had been wondering why they hadn't been attacked in the past few days.

Apparently someone had taken it upon themselves to do a little bit of spring cleaning.

However, that's was what worried Kakashi the most. He knew that Konoha hadn't taken to mission to purge the bandits so that meant it had to be another village...and the nearest one was Iwa.

He examined the bodies along side Naruto; however, unlike Naruto's inexperienced mind, he wasn't feeling guilt but getting an idea of the level of shinobi that killed the bandits.

He deduced that it was likely the work of fresh killers. The fire that killed the bandits was way to hot so it flashed burned them, using up more chakra, and judging from the damage to the cave and forest surrounding, the fire had been wild.

Likely a genin getting their first kill, or maybe that started killing recently, that wasn't able to fully control their emotions.  
He also noticed that there was a large amount of what looked to be obsidian. So, likely there was a lava user among the bandit slayers.

Kakashi had been right on the mark with that deduction.

* * *

"Hey...Kuro-chan, you got little..." Deidara muttered as he gestured to his cheek. His voice lacked its signature confidence and brashness. It had been replaced with a subdued tone.

Kurotsuchi reached up to her cheek and felt wetness, glancing down she realized it was blood. Her eyes went wide as she began to furiously rub away any trace of the substance but she knew it was pointless.

In hours, a dozen or two, she would be covered from head to toe all over again.

It had been three days since her first kill, or should she say her first dozen? Her and her team tracked an encampment and there had been almost fifty of them huddled around fires as they counted their spoils and played with the women they captured.

She had been sick; these animals counted as people?! No; they were nothing than more than beasts in human skin!  
Kurotsuchi was almost glad when her father gave the order to slaughter the bandits.

The key word was almost. The battle had been very short; between Deidara's explosions, Akatsuchi's earth jutsu and her lava, the bandits didn't stand a chance.

It was after the battle that her anger vanished only to be replaced with a deep pit of regret and a hollow feeling.

It was too easy; a single jutsu and dozens were dead! A single toss and a mans life had ended. It was to easy, to simple to take a life and that's why it haunted her. If there was a fight; she'd feel better. If the bandits had a hope of killing her and there was a challenge, she wouldn't feel this heart wrenching guilt.

She understood that the bandits were bad people; she saw the things that they did and the things they were doing but she still felt so much guilt. Even when her father sat them down and told them how to deal with the guilt and telling them that she had been right; that the bandits were animals and they saved far more lives indirectly than they had taken.

Perhaps if she had gotten time for her aching heart to mend; maybe she wouldn't feel as terrible as she did. However, she wasn't given time. It was just slaughter after slaughter after slaughter; wash, rinse repeat.

"Kuro-chan...Kuro-chan...Kuro-chan!" Deidara yelled as he grabbed Kurotsuchi's hand to prevent her rubbing her face raw. The younger looked up at him with wide pink eyes, her cheek an angry red, and he smiled half heartily, "You got it, un,"

The girl just nodded dumbly as she sat down near the camp fire; her eyes a million miles away.

The blonde sighed as he sat down too, planning on trying to engage his comrade in a conversation, trying to get both her mind and his off the massacres, but he was cut off by a boy scoffing.

"Looks like someone can't handle being a shinobi," said a black haired boy with equally dark eyes. He was a member of one of the experienced teams.

Deidara's eye narrowed but he chose not to respond. Normally he'd fly off the handle at such a remark but he wasn't feeling like his usual self.

The boy continued, "Maybe she should just give up being a shinobi if she's just gonna cry about everything! Iwa doesn't need a bunch of cry baby brats in their ranks! Even is she is the Tsuchikage's granddau-" The teenager was cut off by Deidara's fist hitting him in the mouth.

Maybe a good fight would make him feel better?

The black haired boy flew back but landed on his feet and glared bloody murder at the blonde, "Wanna die prick?" he asked as he reached for a kunai.

Deidara reached back and grabbed his clay, "I just thought you might want to catch a peek at some real art, un," Deidara grinned, madness gleaming in his eyes.

The black haired boy growled but before he had a chance to throw his kunai; Kitsuchi suddenly appeared and gripped the boys arm.

"Enough," the man said as he stared down at the boy and saw any resistance in the boys eyes evaporate in an instant.

Even if Kitsuchi wasn't the son of the Tsuchikage, the boy still wouldn't have resisted. The man, despite having a monkeyish appearance, was known for being a hard-ass and did not accept any form of insubordination.

Kitsuchi turned to Deidara, who was holding his hands up in a surrendering position, and then turned his eyes to his daughter. The hardened man felt his heart break when he saw the unfocused look in the girls eyes, undoubtedly going through the events of the past few days in her mind.

He let out a small sigh before he walked over and picked her up; usually such an action would have her shouting and kicking but Kurotsuchi didn't even make a peep. They walked for a minute or two, away from the group before he dumped his daughter on the ground in a heap.

Kurotsuchi hit the ground a let out a small grunt before she stood, sending her father a questioning look. When her father nodded, she jumped into his chest and began sobbing.

Kitsuchi let out another sigh, unable to think of any words to sooth his daughter. What should he say; 'we only have a few more days of slaughtering bandits?' Even if; it was only a matter of time before they got another mission of this nature.

He didn't know what to say; when he experienced his first kill his father told him to man up and swallow his tears. That was exactly what he did yet he couldn't bring himself to give his daughter the same words.

Maybe he would just let her cry for a bit...maybe she'll feel a bit better after.

* * *

"Damn...that is one hell of a drop," Akito muttered as he peeked over the edge of the trail they were walking on. The escort group was currently walking on the edge of a mountain; it was a sign that they were almost at their destination. After this small mountain then they would be in the capital of the land of Tea.

The sheer drop was frighting. it was completely vertical; no hope of getting lucky and landing on a ledge or anything. It was certain death and Akito felt dizzy just looking at it.

"If it's such a drop then why are you standing at the edge? Haven't you seen the movies; you stand on the edge, the cliff breaks and people die," Hana said and her nin-dogs let out a few agreeing yips.

Akito just let out a low whistle before he stepped back; not wanting to reenact the movies.

As Akito returned to his position; he examined his comrades faces. Not that he'd ever admit it; he was worried about them. It took hours for Hana to finally settle down so Kakashi could explain how to dull her sense of smell.

Lavi seems overly unaffected by the sight they saw but then again he was always quite. So Akito really didn't know how bug boy felt.

Naruto was the biggest change; he was silent as a mouse. He couldn't see the boys face due to the mask but he could tell that he was wore a sad look.

Akito let out a small sigh; he wasn't completely unaffected either but to a much lesser degree. It wasn't the first time he's seen death, he did live in the red light district, but it was the first time he saw a corpse like those.

Naruto saw Akito glance over at him out of the corner of his eye. The older boy seemed to do it every other minute and it was beginning to confuse Naruto. Was it because of the mask?

While he doubted that Akito was worried about him; he wouldn't need to anyway. Kakashi-nii told him that, as cruel as it was, those bandits deserved what they got. They were murders, rapist and thieves; they caused so much harm and did no good.

Naruto accepted that; even if it seemed wrong, he had spent the past year learning that some people deserved to die and that by killing them they were doing a good deed at an age that he was still learning how the world worked. While he still never wanted to take a life; he was beginning to resign himself to the fact that he couldn't avoid taking one and perhaps taking one life could save hundreds.

However, that wasn't what he was thinking about at the moment.

He was thinking about the similarities between the bandits and shinobi. Didn't they do the same things? Weren't shinobi just as big of liars, murders, thieves and more as bandits? If so; didn't that mean that they deserved that to?

Was the only difference between them was the fact that they used ninjutsu?

He was thinking about the career; no, the life he had chosen. He wanted to be a ninja, he wanted to become Hokage so everyone would have to acknowledge that he was Uzumaki Naruto and not the biju that he contained.

But now he was thinking about the long road ahead of him; the long, bumpy, and violent path to take the hat. Could he do it? Could he really do those kinds of things just to become Hokage? Wouldn't doing those things just prove to everyone that he was a monster after all?

All of these questions were bouncing around in his mind yet he had no answers. Only time and experience would be able to answer those questions.

However, unknown to Naruto, he would soon be given experience far sooner than he would think.

It was because everyone was in their thoughts that they heard it; a scream coming from the same mountain they were on. It was muffled, no, strangled, and with the high winds they nearly missed it.

Suzuki's eyes snapped open and she once again sent a look at Kakashi, who snapped his book closed and nodded.

Using the same genjutsu as before, she asked permission to investigate and the jolly man quickly gave it. Kakashi threw the man over his shoulder and the group raced to the source; everyone thinking that it was a group of bandits killing a stray group of merchants.

In a way, they were right. They had the same fundamentals but the use was wrong. There was indeed a group of bandits but they weren't the ones doing the killing.

They arrived when the battle was done; bodies were spewed about on the wide road, wide enough that five wagons could ride the road shoulder to shoulder and not risk falling. It was made like that because sometimes there were five wagons going down.

The only ones standing in the road were six children and two adults and they happened to see them the moment the Konoha ninja saw them.

In an instant; both sides were on full alert, both sides surprised, albeit Kakashi to a much lesser extent, at the appearance of ninja.

The jonin on both side jumped in front of their genin teams as the teams all pulled out a various amounts of weapons; all glaring at each other save for two.

"Rakan," Kakashi greeted as he pushed up his headband, revealing a sharingan eye.

"Hatake," Kitsuchi returned as he cracked his knuckles.

The two had met several times in the third shinobi war. Rakan had been a commander of a guerrilla unit in the war. They specialized in blowing up supply wagons, destroying bridges; over all they specialized in raising hell.

Rakan, no last name, was a B-rank, borderline A-rank, ninja. He was known for his ability to take the texture of iron. It was a new kekkei genkai that surfaced with him so only he and his son had it. Once it got a few more members, it would soon become a clan to be feared.

"I don't suppose you could just let us pass?" Kakashi offered as his normal eye morphed into a disarming eye smile.

Rakan considered the offer. If they fought now and when people died then there was a chance for a war to break out. If the case had been that their mission was to assassinate their client, then that would be a different story. However, killing them now would be a clear act of aggression.

...Then again; dead men told no tales...

What to do, what to do?

However, before he even had a chance to respond, his colleague responded for him.

"Like hell we will! Do you really think we'd let that mans student walk by us without a fight?" He yelled. The man was tall with lime green hair, his name was Airu. He hated the Yellow Flash for the same reason everyone in Iwa hated him. He had lost his entire family because of the man and would sell his soul to the devil just to spit his eye.

He was much more average compared to his comrade; normal career, no kekkei genkai, would have been an eternal chunin but he made jonin on a lucky break.

Kakashi's eye smile dropped, "Nah, I didn't think so but can you blame a guy for trying?" he said.

This was a bad situation no matter how you looked at it. They were outnumbered and they didn't know if Rakan had reinforcements. He spared their genin a glance; they all looked ready for a fight and they looked rather gruesome considering the fact some of them were cover in blood.

The odds were against them but running wasn't an option. Mazaki would slow them down and he wasn't going to sacrifice anyone to be a decoy.

So, they had to fight and just hope for the best.

A gentle breeze wafted through as both side waited for the other to make the first move, both sides calculation how best to attack/defend.

"Tree hugger," the black haired boy from before said to Akito; his name was Tsui.

Akito's eyes narrowed, "Rock-for-brains," he shot back.

"Whats it like coming from such a pansy village?" Tsui said, trying to make Akito to make the first move.

Akito just smirked, "Fine, what it like being Konoha's bitch? After all, we bent you pussies over the counter and made you ours in the past thee wars," he said with a sinister grin. This idiot was trying to rile up a master of the art of getting under ones skin.

Tsui's eyes narrowed, "What did you say prick?!"

"You heard me; Konoha bent you over and we had our sweet way with you. Or maybe should I say the Yellow Flash did? After all, he slaughtered, what, a third of your forces in like two in a half seconds?"

Tsui's nostrils flared as he glared murder at the brown haired boy. How dare he?! How dare he mock his village and those lost in the war!

"Shut up or I'm gonna kick your ass bandaid!" he roared, rage glowing in his black eyes. If nothing else angered him; insulting his village did. No one insulted his home and got away with it! He didn't care about the who or why!

Those were the words that started the battle.

Rakan shot off at Kakashi, incredibly fast for a man his size and threw a heavy punch at Kakashi. However, due to the sharingan, Kakashi foresaw this and kicked the mans fist away before turning around and fleeing down the mountain.  
He was putting distance between them and the genin because their fight was going to change the immediate landscape. Rakan knew exactly what Kakashi was doing but he allowed it; it wouldn't do anyone good if the genin were killed during their fight.

For a full minute they played catch up until the reached the base of the mountain they were walking on before both men skidded to a halt.

Neither of them said anything as they gazed at one another in a small clearing simply because there was nothing to say.

A moment later their fighting began.

* * *

Airu snarled as he started to chase after Kakashi but was quickly cut of by a smirking Suzuki.

"Two on one seems a little unfair; how about playing with me handsome," she said as she sent the lime haired man a seductive smirk. She was lying of course; the man looked like he had been beaten with rocks as a child but that was besides the point.

It was a common tactic for kunoichi and the reasoning for it was simple; men were perverts. The tactic worked because of a hundred different ways; sense of chivalry, less blood going to the brain because its going to their other head to name a few.

It worked, just like it normally did, because the man flushed before sending her an angry glare.

"Get out of the way! I need to-" Airu snarled but as cut off by a kunai slicing his cheek; it would have landed in his neck but he managed to dodge last second.

His eyes narrowed as he drew his own kunai and glared at the still smirking Suzuki.

"You better keep those eyes of yours on me; otherwise you'll die too fast," she said sweetly. Her enemy just tsked before he latched onto the cliff side and earned a raised eyebrow from Suzuki.

"I'll just kill you and take Hatake's head afterwards," he said before he grinned savagely, "you wanted a fight bitch but were doing it in my element," he said before jumping back a few more times.

Suzuki looked suspicious. It was obvious that her enemy was planning something and the fact that she would be leaving her team in a bad spot made her hesitant.

However, she trusted her team and her own skills. She was confident that she could defeat her enemy in a timely manner and after that, if they needed the help, she would lend a hand to her genin.

Hardening her resolve, she jumped onto the vertical wall, "I wouldn't have it any other way Iwa scum,"

* * *

As the jonin instructors engaged one another; the genin continued to stare at one another. It was a mixture of they hadn't been the order to engage and neither side had fought against enemy shinobi before.

Naruto and team seven were tense; before Suzuki had left, she told them to guard Mazaki. That was much easier said than done since they were out numbered.

Lavi fixed his glasses as he analyzed the situation, "It would be most wise to split them up between three of us while the last guards Mazaki-san in-case one happens to slip by us," he said aloud. There would be no point in hiding such a strategy.

Hana nodded, "I'll grab the brown-haired one and the Blondie," she said with a feral smile as her nin-dogs growled along with her. The two unnamed ninjas narrowed their eyes as they both agreed to team-up on her.

Akito grinned just as wildly as he stared into furious eyes, "Well then, I'll get blackie and baldy," he said; claiming the one he had been arguing with and the teenager with a shaven head next to him.

Lavi nodded in acknowledgement, "Then I shall take the remaining two; Uzumaki-san, you shall protect Mazaki-san," Lavi instructed as insects began to fly out of his sleeves.

Naruto nodded as he adjusted his grip on his tanto. While he felt mildly insulted, knowing that he was left out because of his age, but knew better to complain. Lavi was team leader when both Suzuki and Kakashi were indisposed.

Without another word; the fights began.

* * *

Kitsuchi looked over at the mountain his comrades were on in confusion. He was to far away to see anything specific but he could see large chunks of rubble falling off. This confused him because they should have finished killing off the bandits ten minutes ago and the jutsu being used were way to high scale.

So, this either meant that there was a bandit or two that was worth mention or shinobi were on that mountain fighting his comrades.

"Kurotsuchi, Deidara, Akatsuchi; take a solider pill and get ready for a run. Were backing up our comrades," he said, his eye not leaving the mountain for a moment.

***Thats what she said**

**I want to explain something that I think I did a bad job of in the chapter, I couldn't make it flow into the actual scene so I'll do it here and elaborate more in the next; Naruto's starting the change but at the same time he wants to stay who he it. He's conflicted; he's a kind hearted child but the people he wants to be like are killers and tortures. **

**He's going to be a conflicting character for a little while before he sets himself onto a path and even then he's going to wonder if he chose the right one. **

**Next chapters going to be action packed and freakin long! I'm already at the 8000 word mark and I'm only 3/4ths done!  
**

**Leave a review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**I lied when I said that I was 3/4ths done; turns out I was almost half way done. I want all of you to take a moment of silence and appreciate the fact that I managed to write 17,000 words in a single week. The only reason it was late is because it was getting beta'd.**

**Also, I have a poll in my homepage on if Naruto should keep the mask. It won't be a 24 hour thing like it is with Kakashi but he'll wear it during a fight and stuff like that. **

**Another thing; I have grown tired of the title and summary for this story. I came up with it off the top of my head and now I can't think of anything better to change it to. So, I ask of you, my readers, to come up with and awesome name and summary and send them to me. I'll pick my favorite one and use it.**

**LEAVE A REVIEW WHEN YOUR DONE! THEY MAKE ME HAPPY!**

**Now, on with the story!**

Kakashi dodged a heavy punch, making Rakan to hit the ground and a fist sized crater to form with a cloud of smoke. As the large man stood, his fist returned to it's normal white hue instead of the metallic grey it had been.

It was the mans Kekkei genkai; it gave him the ability to fully turn himself into metal. Kakashi wasn't sure of the specifics but judging from the fact that he was positive that at least three of his knuckles were broken, it was probably a through and through transformation.

Kakashi rolled away before tossing a few kunai that bounced off the mans suddenly metallic skin and tsked to himself. Despite fighting Rakan a number of times in the past, he was having some difficulty.

He was always tough to deal with because of how he fought and the fact there was only a handful of ways to win. Most jutsu wouldn't work since he was made of a tougher substance than rock, water or wind could deal with. Kakashi couldn't produce a fire jutsu hot enough to melt metal and he took measures for lighting jutsu.

Genjutsu would be a solution but Rakan could break out of even the highest ranked genjutsu.

He just didn't leave many weaknesses to be exploited.

Rakan smirked, "You should know better than to think that these puny things would work on me," he said in a confident tone as he picked up a kunai and threw it back at the silver haired man.

Kakashi dodged the kunai with ease as his mind began to turn over dozens of possible strategies.

Using a lighting jutsu would be the most obvious and effective solution. Since metal was a great conductor for lightning; it would be the most ideal way of winning.

However, his opponent knew this as well so Rakan would have a number of counter measures. He wore rubber sandals thick enough that even a lightning jutsu wouldn't get through and it seemed that his clothes were the same way. Taijutsu was out because of the mans kekkei genkai. While Kakashi wasn't shabby when it came to taijutsu; but he doubted that even Tsunade of the Sannin could manage to shatter his thick metal body.

Long distance was unpractical because of the trees that surrounded them and the fact that Rakan was a close distance fighter so he didn't let Kakashi get away more than five feet away.

Kakashi dodged another heavy punch and ducked underneath the elbow that followed it. He was losing; maybe not quickly but he was defiantly loosing ground. If things continued as they were then it would only be a matter of time before Rakan wore him down and got under his guard.

"Keep on dodging you slippery snake, I'm gonna nail you sooner rather than later!" Rakan yelled as he threw a left hook that Kakashi barely managed to dodge; instead he took out a massive portion of a tree. It seems that Rakan was thinking the same thing as Kakashi.

The masked ninja tsked as he was showered with splinters before he jumped backwards, kicking off Rakan's stomach, and put some distance between them as he tried to formulate a plan.

To buy himself time, he flew through a few hand-signs, '_Fire Release; Grand Fireball_,' he recited mentally before he breathed out a large, as the name implied, fireball that consumed Rakan.

The fireball lasted for barely five seconds before Kakashi ceased the jutsu and jumped back a few times. While the Grand Fireball jutsu wasn't very costly when it came to chakra, Kakashi was approaching the halfway empty mark because of it. His sharingan had been activated for over ten minutes and it wasn't the first time he's used a jutsu to catch his breath.  
However, the options to win this fight were becoming more limited with each one. He had maybe two Chidori's or fifteen mid-level jutsu's before he hit E.

Much to Kakashi's disappointment, though he was not surprised, Rakan emerged from the flames with little harm to him. His entire body was covered in a metallic grey hue while most of his clothes had burned off in the flames. Even a bit of the metal was on fire.

Rakan gave Kakashi a cocky grin as he brushed off flames that covered his forearm, causing a loud scraping noise, "Did you really think that would work? I told you puny things like these wouldn't work on me," he said.

Kakashi noticed that just about every Iwa ninja that he had ever come across always acted very arrogant in battle.

Then, in a sudden epiphany, he noticed something else.

Smirking behind his mask, a plan finally formed and he had just enough chakra to do it.

He jumped backwards again and formed the seal for Naruto's favorite jutsu and suddenly two clones poofed into existence next to him. Then he formed the ram seal and formed a dozen or so intangible clones.

Rakan watched as the shadow clones mix themselves up with the intangible clones before dispersing into the woods. He rose a curious eyebrow at Kakashi, wondering what the man was doing but in the long run he didn't care.

He was confident that he could take whatever Kakashi threw at him because his kekkei genkai made him all but invincible to normal means of attack. Only those with exceptional strength could make him even feel the blows.

Once again Kakashi flew through the hand-signs for the grand fireball jutsu and breathed fire as he retreated into the woods. However, unlike before, he jumped back only a few feet at a time, slowly making his way deeper into the forest.

Rakan groaned in annoyance as he once again turned his flesh into a metallic substance. He couldn't feel it but he was sure that what was left of his pants had been burnt away.

He was clueless as to what Kakashi was trying to do; he couldn't feel the flames, or anything, when he turned his body into metal. It was one of the major advantages of his ability.

Few things scared people more than seeing their best jutsu doing nothing to him.

Holding his breath, Rakan began to trek through the flames, judging by the flow, Kakashi was still in front of him. He ran through the seemingly never ending flames for what seemed like forever but was much closer to two minutes.

Unlike before, his metal skin wasn't protecting him as much. Now his entire body was burning; like was in an oven that was slowly growing hotter. Realizing that he had to escape the flames, else he over heated, he shot forward, attempting to take out the source.

Rakan burst forth, escaping the flames as steam lapped around his body, before stopping abruptly.

Confused, he looked around, trying to find the source of why he was suddenly unable to move and he saw it. Ninja wires covered his body in an elaborate web that covered him from head to toe.

In that single instant, Rakan realized what Kakashi had done.

"Figured it out did you?" He asked, a smirk in his tone contrasting the sweat soaked mask and the sheen on his visible skin.

Rakan clenched his jaw, "You used the flames to hide the fact that those clones of yours were setting up ninja wire. The fake clones were to throw me off, I thought you were sending for help or an ambush later...," he said in a stiff tone. He hated that he fell for the trap so easily.

Kakashi nodded, "Yep, I had them make it just slack enough that you got tangled," he said as he gave the wires in his hand a light pull causing the wires around Rakan to tighten.

Rakan hissed in annoyance. He couldn't move enough to generate the strength to snap the wires and the wires were to elaborate for him to hope to untangle himself any time soon.

Kakashi saw that Rakan realized he was defeated before he offered the man an eye smile, "It was a fun fight," he offered before he flew through hand-signs as he gripped the wires.

'_Electromagnetic murder_!' He exclaimed mentally as lightning flowed through the wire and into his opponent. Hundreds of thousands of volts flowed through Rakan, frying his brain and killing him.

After using one of his clones to check the fried mans pulse, confirming that he was dead, Kakashi let out a weary sigh before letting the wires go; causing Rakan's body to hit the ground with a loud thump.

Taking deep breaths he put his hands on his knees; he was exhausted. The sharingan, the shadow clones, keeping the grand fireball up for two minutes, using electromagnetic murder, all the other C-ranked jutsu; Kakashi had hit empty and a little below it. He probably didn't have enough chakra to create a single fake clone.

However, his fight wasn't over yet; he still had to help out his cute genin, though they weren't really his genin, and Suzuki! Popping a solider pill, he cracked his neck as he waited for it to kick in.

He was right about his fight not being over, because the moment he got ready to sprint back up the mountain, he was forced to dodge a barrage of shuriken.

Sliding back, his hand in his pouch ready to return the favor, he saw four people enter the clearing; one man that had the same build as Rakan, one girl with pink eyes, a boy that had a chubby face and a large nose, a trait he shared with the man, and a blonde with madness in his eyes.

While Kakashi didn't know who the kids were, he defiantly knew who the man was. Kitsuchi, the son of the Tsuchikage and a solid A-rank threat on his worst day.

Kitsuchi looked impassive as he looked over at Rakan's corpse before he turned to Kakashi, "Did you do this?" he asked in a gruff tone.

Kakashi gave a curt nod, not wanting to waste his breath, and Kitsuchi then turned to his students.

"You three go help out on the mountain; his comrades seem to be up there," he ordered before rocks covered his fists, "I follow you up in a few minutes," he said and his team sprinted off.

_'Suzuki; I hope you're about done up there because I'm gong to be the one needing help,'_

* * *

As Suzuki and her opponent clashed kunai, she offered him a flirtatious wink; causing the man to flush red before he jumped back. She wasn't too surprised that the technique was working on him. The man was simply too ugly for him to have any real contact with women and therefor made him very susceptible to the tactic.

His face was disproportionate and scarred and what was with that lime green hair?

Shaking her self of the thought, she let herself fall a few feet before reattaching herself to the mountainside. She still didn't know what her opponent had planned or why he had chosen this terrain but she was starting to get nervous.

If they stuck to using taijutsu then she could stay horizontal for another few hours. However, if this turned into a ninjutsu brawl then she wasn't going to last more than twenty minutes.

As if to answer her concerns, her opponent yelled out his technique, "Earth Release: Rock Fist!" he yelled as a rock shaped fist the size of a child launched itself at her.

Doing a sideways handspring, she managed to dodge the jutsu before she returned the jutsu with one of her own, "Water Release: Water Bullet!" she called out.

While water wasn't the most effective jutsu against rock; it was all she had. She had a water affinity and an earth affinity. You could argue that rock would be more effective; it was a bad idea to use them on a Iwa-nin. They had a nasty habit of turning your jutsu back on you.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall!" Airu called out called out and a rock dome formed in front of him, protecting him from the water.

Suzuki tsked before she pulled out a kunai and attached an explosive tag to it before throwing it. It didn't manage to pierce the hard rock but she expected it so she placed a two second fuse on it.

A loud explosion rocked the mountain, forcing Suzuki to dodge chunks of rubble and hoping that her genin did the same below her, and a thick cloud of dust and smoke hid her opponent.

He wasn't dead, she was sure, she didn't see a body fall with the rubble so that meant that he was using the smoke to hide and plan his next move.

_'As if I'd let you!'_ She thought before she flew through hand-signs again and said, "Water Release: Water Whip!" a thin stream of water emerged from Suzuki's mouth before she sharply turned her body to the side and cut through the smoke.

Much to her surprise, she didn't feel any resistance.

_'If he's not there; then where is-'_ She started to think but was cut off by two hands jumping out of the solid rock beneath her, causing her to jump up and she began to fall. Her heart pounded hard as she looked behind her and saw that she was high enough that if she didn't get back on the cliff soon, she was going to die.

Leaning forward and reaching out, she focused chakra to her palm and scraped the cliff side once but didn't attach, she did it a second time but she still didn't attach but the third time proved to be the charm and she latched onto the mountain side.

However, her troubles were far from over.

"Earth Release: Rock Dragon!" Airu yelled out, using the strongest jutsu in his arsenal. As he finished uttering the words, a giant dragon made of rock from the mountain emerged from the mountain side and raced to Suzuki's crouched form.

The woman's eyes went wide as she threw herself sideways in order to dodge the dragon but as the jutsu made contact, debris flew everywhere and a large rock cracked against Suzuki's skull.

Blood poured down the right side of her beautiful face as she saw stars. It took all of her concentration to keep herself attached to the mountainside. It was in that moment that she realized her opponents intentions.

He planned to cause head trauma and due to her concussion, it would be much harder to mold chakra. If she didn't fall to her death than she would be a sitting duck since she wouldn't be able to fire off jutsu.

_'This is bad,'_ She thought as she closed her right eye, blood had gotten into it and she didn't want to risk using a hand to rub it out and provide an opening. She bit her lip as she tried to formulate a plan and ignored her aching head.

Carefully she stood back up on two legs, her legs trembling sightly, and she saw her opponent smirk at her, "Having trouble standing?" he asked in a confident tone. He was a little winded but he had more than enough chakra to finish off Kakashi!

Suzuki sent him a smirk, "What can I say; you're making me weak at the knees," she said as she sent him a flirtatious smile. To her amusement Airu blushed and his eyes flickered away.

_'HA! Even as a bloody mess I still got it!'_ She thought with a smirk before she thought more on her opponents reaction. Her smirk slowly turned from an amused smirk to a cunning one.

Steeling herself, she pulled out a kunai and sprinted at him; she wasn't as fast as she normally was and dark spot fluttered in her vision but she ignored them. If this worked then she won.

Airu whipped out a kunai as well and deflected the stab before throwing a punch that Suzuki ducked under. As she came back up she grabbed Airu's red and brown vest and slammed her lips on his own.

Airu's eyes flew open in surprise as his mind went blank. While he wasn't a virgin; everyone woman he had ever been with had been paid for and none of them were half as beautiful as Suzuki.

Even when he did pay for pleasure; he could tell how fake it was. How they would rather be spending their time with someone better looking; how all of their moans seemed so forced and how blank their eyes were.

This simple kiss was complete different! He could feel her passion and she was the was one that initiated the kiss! Somewhere in the back of his mind his instincts were screaming at him that something wasn't right; that you don't just go from trying to kill each other to make-out sessions in three seconds. However, all he could do was focus on how incredibly soft her lips felt on his.

Suzuki moaned sensually, encouraging Airu to engage which he quickly did; his mind still blank and his body reacting on instincts, and placed his hands at her wide hips.

Suzuki licked his bottom lip, asking permission to enter and he quickly gave it, She slid her tongue into his mouth at the same time she slid a kunai into his heart.

Airu tensed for a moment as he drew away and looked down at the piece of metal protruding from his chest before he tenderly reached up and pulled it out to look at it in wonder. He stumbled back, no longer molding chakra, and began to fall.

A disbelieving stare and a look of betrayal in his eyes as he plummeted down where he hit the ground and died on impact.

Suzuki spat the taste of Airu, along with a little blood, out of her mouth. She had gotten very lucky that tactic worked as well as it did or she would have died. Most shinobi of that level developed resistance to those kind of tactics.

Oh yes, she had gotten very lucky.

She started to look over to her genin but her attention was drawn to a large, fiery explosion near the base of the mountain. Her only open eye went wide, "Kakashi," she muttered before sprinting down the mountain and down the second vertical slope; taking the short cut.

It was for that reason she missed Kitsuchi's genin team engaging Naruto.

* * *

Hana's fight wasn't overly difficult and in truth, she had the advantage since she out numbered her opponent counting her nin-dogs. The only difficulty she had was the fact the road, while being very wide, was too narrow for her attacks to have full effectiveness.

She couldn't use her smoke bombs since the rest over her team was fighting nearby; she didn't want the smoke to blow their direction and make her comrades fights a little bit harder.

She couldn't use her Tsuga or Getsuga since the road was just narrow enough that there was a chance that she'd fall of the mountain. Oddly enough, your depth perception went right out the window when you rapidly spun and jump around at a hundred miles an hour.

Maybe if she already would have won if she could have used her signature techniques. However, she couldn't and she was having trouble because of it. She seemed to have grabbed a team that complimented the others skills very well.

One specialized in defensive jutsu. Rock walls and supportive jutsu; things of that nature. She didn't really see him pull anything offensive so she didn't know if he had any tricks hiding in his selves or not.

His partner specialized in offensive jutsu and he was a pain to deal with. None of the jutsu he knew were above C-rank, that she knew of, but when used in combination with his friends supportive jutsu, they became an even bigger pain.

Hana dodged a rock fist and her nin-dogs did the same and she growled in response; this was starting to get annoying. Every time she managed to get close, the defensive jerk would throw up a earth wall and then the other jerk would throw a jutsu to force her back.

She knew what she needed to do to win but she just had trouble doing it! The easiest way to win this would be divide and conquer but unfortunately her opponent knew that as well.

Hana reached in her pouch and gripped a smoke bomb and debated the pro and cons of throwing it. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Lavi going against a red haired jerk but he looked like he was having a hard time. If she threw this she might make her fight easier but she could also screw up any plan Lavi might have or get him hurt by surprise.

Grinding her teeth, she took her hand out of the pouch, her hand empty. She couldn't take that risk; she would just have to find another way to win this. She glared at the two smirking boys in anger. It really pissed her off when she couldn't hit something.

"Bet you're-" One started.

"Regretting picking-" The second continued.

"Us," they both finished in total unison, freaking out Hana. It was just creepy!

"Keep talking smack while you can; you'll be eating dirt before too long," she shot back creeped out by the identical smiles they both wore. They were like freakin' dolls!

"We-"

"Highly-"

"Doubt-"

"Tha-"

"Shut up and let me hit you!" Hana roared as she charged the duo, reaching into her pouch and grabbing a kunai that she then threw at the defensive one. As expected, a rock wall formed and the kunai bounced off harmlessly. However, that was exactly what she planned on.

A second later, the offensive one peeked out, still forming hand-signs for some earth jutsu, but before he could even call the name out of his technique, Hana activated plan C.

The Haimaru brothers spread out behind her and tossed a kunai each, forcing the offensive one to duck back beneath the rock wall. She drew closer, closer than she had before when she charged in without a real plan.

She was almost ten feet away when the offensive one popped back out and activated his jutsu, "Earth Release: Piercing spear!" he yelled as a lance of sharpened earth flew out of the rock wall and raced towards Hana.

The Inuzuka's eyes widened before she dodged to the left, the missile scraping her arm and rolled away so that her back was facing the mountain side.

She hissed as she tested out her arm; it would be fine with some treatment, though there would certainly be a scar, but right now it just hurt like a bitch.

_'Well, that didn't work,'_ she thought as she held her injured arm. She looked to her left and saw that the Haimaru brothers were sending her concerned looks so she sent them a smile to reassure them.

"Now that-"

"You're injured-"

"You will-"

"Be much-"

"Easier to-"

"Deal with," the finished in unison.

_'God that is so creepy, but they're right! I'm a sitting duck right now, I need something to distract them with,_' She thought as she gripped her wound tighter to calm her self.

As if to answer her prayers, something fell from the sky; hitting the ground with a loud smack and a smoke cloud going up. Seconds later the smoke cloud cleared and they saw whatever hit the ground made a crater.

Then they saw it was a body.

"SENSEI!" the dolls yelled out as all their attention was suddenly drawn to their obviously dead teacher.

It was exactly the opening she needed.

"Tsuga!" Hana called out as she became a human drill and aimed herself at the two boys. Her exclamation brought their attention back to their enemy but it was too late, Hana was already to close to use a jutsu.

Both boys jumped to the side, one to the left and one to the right.

Hana grinned as her nin-dogs caught her drift and aimed themselves at the defensive one, overwhelming his defenses in a moment and knocking him unconscious. Ceasing her jutsu, she skidded to a halt and she smirked at the enraged teen.

She took a step forward and he took a step back; her smirk widened, "A lot less confident without your buddy to back you up, ain't ya?" she said with her clans signature grin playing at her lips.

The teen's eyes glanced over to his unconscious partner and rage filled his eyes once again, "I'll kill you, you bitch!" he screamed as he rapidly formed jutsu but was stopped by a barrage of kunai and shuriken. He once again jumped to the side to avoid the ninja weapons and when he got back up, he felt a sharp blow to his temple, knocking him out.

Hana grinned as she looked at her unconscious opponents; she thought she did pretty well and she was the first one done! She looked over to where Naruto was, expecting to be bathed in compliments by the adorable boy but she was greatly surprised by what she saw.

Naruto and Mazaki were gone.

* * *

Lavi held his aching ribs as he wiped his chin of blood with the other. At some point during the fight, his high collar had been cut open so his face was on display and his sunglasses were cracked. Cuts marred his body; blood soaking through the thick fabric.

He pondered how poorly of a match-up he had gotten for his opponents. One of them used genjutsu, something that was not very effective due to the fact that his insects eating his chakra constantly altered the flow of his chakra so Aburame's were immune to lower level genjutsu. Lavi went on a limb and guessed that he wasn't able to use the higher level stuff.

However, he also used kenjutsu; something that was very effective against him.

His other opponent, who had white hair, seemed to be very well suited for taijutsu; every Aburame's weakness. While he was proficient in the academy style, it was like fighting a stronger version of Akito; he was completely unpredictable and fast.

Lavi straitened himself soundlessly, and fixed his glasses calmly. That wasn't to say that his opponents weren't injured; they were covered in angry red whelps and one had stung the red heads eye.

Hornets began to crawl out of his sleeves and the two genin took a step back, having learned the hard way how badly those stingers hurt. Lavi didn't show it but he was relieved; due to the fact that he shared his body with three different species, that meant that he had far less room for each species.

He was beginning to approach the danger zone when it came hornets but his other insect were still in the green. However, it would take a while for his kikaichu to eat enough chakra to make an effect. He already had a few on them of course but any more might make it obvious and he didn't want to use his third species unless he had to.

They were his trump card.

Lavi hummed to himself as he thought about his kikaichu; perhaps it wouldn't take to long if he abandoned stealth. The only problem would be the partner and if he knew any water jutsu would throw a kink in his plans.

What was worse, he only had just enough chakra to entrap one of them so that meant he was going to have to find another way to defeat the other. However, a plan quickly formed and he started the both of them.

Gathering as much chakra as he could, he commanded his kikaichu to swarm outside of him and they obeyed. A thick shroud of buzzing insects emerged from him, hanging overhead in an ominous manner.

The two genin took another step back, suddenly very weary as to what Lavi had planned.

"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere," said softly as he raised his arms and his insects converged on the red head, who began screaming the moment he realized where the insects were heading and began to swing his sword wildly, attempting to hack the insect cloud apart.

His efforts were in vain; Lavi's insects quickly covered the red head and his screams of pure terror were muffled by the sound of buzzing. His comrade looked at the scene with shock before he quickly began forming hand-signs

"Fire release: Fire-" he stopped abruptly as he truly thought about what he was about to do. If he used a fire jutsu now, then there was a good chance he would roast his friend along with the bugs.

He tsked before he turned his sights onto a exhausted Lavi and finished his jutsu in his direction. If he killed the caster then the jutsu should cease.

A fireball launched at Lavi, who threw himself to the side to avoid being roasted. It seems that he miscalculated; he had planned on Hana-

His thoughts were interrupted by a girls voice yelling, "Tsuga!" and crashing into his opponents stomach and launching him sideways. However, Hana had miscalculated and put too much force into the technique and the teenager bounced over the side of the mountain.

Hana's jaw dropped as she saw the teenager bounce off the side of the cliff and disappear from sight and she swallowed thickly. She didn't need to look over the side to know that she had just killed someone.

Her breaths became quick and shallow; the beginning stages of hyperventilating but it was stopped when Lavi placed a calming hand on her shoulder. She looked into his black tinted glasses and for some odd reason she felt reassured.

"We don't have time to fret over our first kills; why? Because Akito-san is losing," he said. The red head he had swarmed had died of shock, or by suffocation.

Hana nodded, steeling her nerves, "We'll help him out but Naruto and Mazaki are missing, Naruto's scent leads further along the path but I saw you were in a tight spot before I checked it out," she said and got a nod from Lavi.

"Uzumaki-san is a capable shinobi, he can take care of himself," he said as the two shot over to help Akito.

* * *

**Ten minutes earlier.**

Akito ginned as he twirled a kunai on the tip of finger, "Now, which one of you pussies wanna die first?" he asked, oozing killing intent. He gave his bald opponent a look over, "Wanna step up chrome dome or do you want to wait your turn?"

The boy he addressed scowled and he glared at Akito, "Tsui, let me take this guy!" he asked his black haired comrade; who sneered at the request.

"Like hell; I'm gonna rip him apart for those comments earlier," he said as he pinned a fierce glare at the shaven headed teen.

"Aww, look! You're fighting over me! Sorry guys but I don't swing that way," Akito said with a smirk as blood vessels became visible on his opponents heads. Akito smirked; god, it was so much fun annoying people.

"Tsui, please, let me have this guy! I'll rip into him enough for the two of us!" Baldy pleaded as he fingered his weapon.

"I told you no-" Tusi was cut off by his comrade suddenly taking off, ignoring and leaving him in the dust, as he charged Akito yelling a war cry. He swung his kunai, trying to hack at Akito's neck but the brown haired teen dodged it by spinning.

Twisting on the ball of his heel, Akito jumped and swung his leg out in a reverse roundhouse kick. He had borrowed the idea of using momentum to strengthen his attacks from Naruto's kenjutsu style.

Baldy's eyes widened as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the kick, but was hit by the next one that followed it. Holding his jaw, he went to send a glare at Akito but he was forced to dodge a third kick.

Jumping back again, he watched as Akito once again jumped up, going to do another a reverse roundhouse, baldy threw up his forearm with a kunai in his other hand.

Akito smirked as he let his roundhouse come short and miss his opponent's head. Baldy smirked as he went to counter attack, dropping his guard, but was stopped when he felt a knee slam into his left eye and a kunai stab into his throat.

Akito dropped to the ground, holding a bloody kunai and blood spatter covered his knee and shorts. His opponent looked at him in disbelief as he clutched his throat in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

Akito looked impassively at his opponent as he brought up his kunai again and plunged into the teenagers chest; once, twice, and a third time for certainty. Blood spatter covered Akito's still blank face as his opponent slipped to his knees and fell over next to him dead.

The brown haired preteen gazed down at his kunai; suddenly hit with memories of his first kill. He had been nine years old with a mouth just as foul as he had now; perhaps worse since he hadn't really known what he had been saying and just strung curse words together.

The ordeal started when he smarted off to some gang leader that ran a block of the red light district. He didn't remember what he said, how the fight started, or even where the ordeal went down. All he remembered was being beaten in some back alley by three kids.

They had pummeled him into the ground, picked him up and drove him in further. It was while they were beating him that he noticed a particularly sharp shard of glass. Wanting the pain to stop and so filled with anger and vengeance; he garbed the shard and stabbed it into one of the boys stomach.

He remembered screaming as he stabbed wildly, tears flowing from his eyes. He didn't know how much time had passed before the ninja police found him but it was long enough that the glass had shattered and the boy died without a single hope of being recognized.

When his case reached the courts; he was acquitted due to his age and that he killed in self defense.

Akito tore his eyes away from the kunai and looked over at his other opponent, "Opps...my hand slipped," he said, smirking. He looked horrifying because of it.

Oddly, his opponent smirked right back, "I always thought that Konoha was filled with soft pansies; seems like I was wrong," he said as he got into a fighting stance.

Akito's smirk morphed into a full blown smile, making him look even more horrifying, "I'm glad I could change your opinion with my humble self," he said before he threw his blood covered kunai at him but to his surprise, it bounced off his eye.

Tsui grinned like a lunatic as a shinny substance covered his body, "Shit like that won't hurt me! My kekkei genkai protects me from puny things like that," he said as his body became encased in what looked to be...

"This is my Diamond Release; a kekkei genkai that only me and my father have!" he yelled as he charged.

**Back in Present.  
**

The fight had been very one sided after that. Everything that Akito threw at him just bounced off that shiny skin and he pushed through any defense he had. Not even grade three explosive tags, the highest grade available to genin, worked on him! It threw him back it was only a matter of seconds before he got back up.

Akito spat blood and a tooth to the side as he gazed at his opponent, who was holding him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Opps, my hands slipped," Tsui said with a grin, his face covered with his diamond skin, sparkling dazzlingly in the mid day light.

Akito just spat blood onto his face, staining the glowing and sparking surface red, just like his fists were.

Akito tested out his body but stopped before he could even really begin. Everything hurt so much; his arms were broken and at least two ribs were and a leg. His right eye was swollen shut and his nose was broken badly.

He was a mess and the only reason he was still alive was because his opponent felt like toying with him.

"Just finish this you shinny prick," he said as darkness gathered on the edges of his vision. He wanted to be awake when he died to face death like how he lived life; with a filthy mouth and a foul attitude.

"Gladly," Tsui said as he raised a fist but before he could deliver the finishing blow, a handful of kunai bounced off of him. Raising an eyebrow, he looked over and saw a bloody looking Inuzuka, three roughed up looking dogs, and an exhausted looking Aburame.

"Let him down you shinny asshole!" Hana snarled as she pulled out another kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. However, she didn't throw it; Akito was to close to the blast range.

Surprisingly, the diamond teenager dropped Akito in a heap before he turned to face them fully, "You guys managed to beat those losers, huh," he asked, noticing that two were unconscious, one looked dead and the other was missing, "let's see how you punks do against a real ninja!"

* * *

Naruto watched in awe as his team and friends fought the ninja; they were amazing! His team was so cool! They were fighting against two opponents at once but they were still winning.

Well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true. Lavi was pretty roughed up and Akito was losing pretty badly. He wanted to jump in the fray and help his friends out but every time he thought about it; Akito would look over and give him a smirk, sending him the message that everything was apart of his plan. Lavi, even though he was taking a beating, looked like he had everything under control.

Plus, his job was to protect Mazaki! He couldn't let anything happen to him. Despite sounding like such a simple job, Naruto was nervous. He never experienced this kind of atmosphere; the atmosphere of real combat and he was seeing enemies in every shadow.

However, it was a good thing that Naruto was so alert; because he was, he noticed the three genin running up the mountain trail behind him.

Naruto jumped in front of a terrified looking Mazaki and raised his tanto in a defensive position. The three genin stopped as they glared at him and the fights going on behind him.

"Get out of our way!" A girl with pink eyes yelled as she drew a kunai. Rage glowed in her eyes and tears could be seen in the edges.

These bastards killed Rakan! They were fighting and hurting her friends! She was so angry; she just wanted to hit something, or better yet, an enemy!

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "No! Your gonna hurt my friends!" Naruto yelled back; the panic that he felt not entering his voice. His friends were already having trouble with a two on one handicap! If these guys joined then they would surely lose!

Naruto gripped his tanto tighter, he couldn't let them reinforce their comrades. That much was clear but he couldn't fight them while he defended Mazaki. Not only would that divide his attention but they could use him as a hostage and make them surrender. However, he couldn't just lug Mazaki around as he fought.

A thought struck him; or could he?

Whipping out as sealing scroll, Naruto unfurled it and pointed the white side at a confused Mazaki, "Sorry," he said before he channeled chakra into the seal and Mazaki poofed into it.

He didn't do this earlier because it was unhealthy for a living person to be sealed away. Mazaki would have a major headache when Naruto let him out of it but Naruto would rather that then his friends dying.

Naruto turned back to a confused looking genin team before he picked his tanto back up, that had been stabbed into the ground, before reaching into his ninja pouch and grabbing a handful of shuriken.

"If you want a fight, I'll be your opponent!" He said before he flung the weapons with deadly accuracy. The genin team deflected the ninja weapons with ease but when they did they saw a clone of Naruto flying through hand-signs

'_Fire Release: Grand Fireball_!' The clone recited before breathing out a fireball the size of a small building.

The Iwa genin's eyes went wide before Akatsuchi threw his hands on the ground and a wall of earth big enough to guard the three of them emerged. They shared a look; they hadn't expected a child to attack all three of them.

As his clone kept the fireball up, Naruto reached into his thigh pouch and grabbed a kunai and a grade five explosive tag. Explosive tags were a level two seal and Naruto had gotten very good at making them. Just a few more addition and he could make a grade six!

Naruto attached the seal to the kunai before throwing it. His clone ceased it's jutsu and the kunai sunk into the hastily made earth; the tag sizzling sinisterly.

Deidara recognized the sound instantly and grabbed Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi before he jumped as far away as he could with the two of them.

The tag detonated a second later, however, it's explosion was drown out by the even larger explosion at the base of the mountain.

Deidara let out a laugh as rubble rained on him and his two friends, "Amazing! A fellow artist, un!" He exclaimed as he reached into his pouch and grabbed a handful of clay and started molding.

"Oi, I think we should take him out before we do anything else. Everyone seems to be doing fine at the moment but they might not if he joins the fray, un," Deidara said as he furiously molded.

Akatsuchi nodded, "That clone could use jutsu; he could overwhelm our friends if he makes more of them," the chubby boy said. Kurotsuchi nodded, the boy might be small but, if he was anything like her, that didn't mean he could pack a punch.

Deidara grinned as he displayed his art, which happened to take the form of a bird. He then threw cartoonish bird at Naruto, it glided through the air before nose bombing right at him.

Naruto, not knowing what the bird was or what it did, went to slice it in half but the moment his blade touched it; the bird exploded. It wasn't as big as his but it was large enough that it sent Naruto back a few feet.

Naruto stood back up; confused and in mild pain, and saw that the blonde teen had put more clay in his hands. He quickly realized what the clay really was; C4.

Naruto looked over at his comrades, all currently to involved in their own fights to notice his. He couldn't let the blonde fight here. Explosives had a big range and they were all at risk with this road. Their fights were so grouped together that one big bomb would take them all out.

So, Naruto did the only thing he could think of to get them away from here.

He ran.

The three genin were momentarily puzzled when the boy suddenly turned around and fled; going deeper into the mountain. However, it did not last long when a tic mark formed on Deidara's head.

"You can't just challenge me to an art contest and run! Get back here you little shit, un!" he yelled as he followed in pursuit. Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi followed as they ran through the fights; no one even noticing their presence.

Naruto rounded the corner, using every ounce of his speed to carry him, and glanced over and saw that the Iwa genin were following him. Though, he was slightly puzzled why the blonde looked so angry.

He stopped a few minuted later, where the road began to level out, before turning back around and waited for his opponents to catch up. They did seconds later and they didn't waste time with formalities before they started their attack.

"Hope you liked my last piece! Cuz' here's something better, un!" Deidara yelled before he threw a ball of clay at the dirt before him. Naruto looked at in, weary but unimpressed before the small figure began to grow until it stood nearly half the size of Naruto.

It looked like someone had just thrown parts together; one arm was far thicker and longer than the other and it's head was smushed into it's body. One leg was hanging by a thread and the other was as thick as a tree.

It looked formidable; just not impressive.

"Behold; true art," he said as he threw his hands up into the air, "is an explosion!" he yelled before the mass of C4 exploded, taking a large chunk of the road and side of the mountain with it.

The blast didn't hit Naruto because he had kawarimied with a rock just outside of the blast radius. He suddenly felt so relieved that he lead them away. A single blast like that could have killed his team!

Before the dust had a chance to settle, Naruto was already making his first move, He formed a clone beside him and they both began forming hand-signs

'_Fire Release: Grand Fireball_!'

'_Wind Release: Great Breakthrough_!' They both exclaimed mentally before the real Naruto breathed fire and his clone thrusted out it's palm, fanning the flames immensely.

The effect was immediate; Naruto's already intensely hot fireball became an uncontrollable inferno as it tore through the dust. Naruto, not for the first time, silently thanked Itachi for giving him such an awesome combination.

Kurotsuchi grinned when she hard the sounds of flames, it was time for her to show her stuff!

She flew through the hand-signs, "Water Release: Water Gu-" she was cut off when the white-hot inferno cleared away the dust. Her jaw dropped when she saw it before she ducked underneath the earth dome that Akatsuchi made.

The three shared a wide eyed look, Deidara's maniac grin looking even crazier.

"Amazing! I've finally found a rival worthy of my talents, un!" he said over the raging flames. He would be dancing if he wouldn't be burned to a crisp.

"Shut up Deidara-nii!" Kurotsuchi scolded before her lips twitched in a smirk. The fireball was way to powerful to just be a normal fire release. The kid probably had a wind affinity that gave his fireball a boost.

She was grinning for the same reason Deidara was, she might have found someone worth acknowledging as a rival. She was the only one she knew that had three affinities and a bloodline; admittedly, she hadn't trained two of them and her lava jutsu were limited at. However, that was besides the point.

She saw the potential! She found someone younger than her that was far more advanced than his peers, just like she was.  
Everyone in Iwa took it easy on her because of her heritage, if they didn't out right throw the match or avoid the challenge, and the only fighting she ever did outside the village was killing the bandits.

Naruto was the first person that fought her with everything he had and had the potential that rivaled hers.

Seconds later, the inferno died off, leaving blackened earth and three sweating children.

"You guys, we have to take this seriously," Akatsuchi said, giving Deidara a pointed look, "we could get hurt if we don't," he said before rock flew from the ground and covered his fists.

Deidara and Kurotsuchi nodded, "Don't worry, I'll show'em the true extent of my art, un!" Deidara said before he reached back into his pouch.

However, before he could mold the clay to his desires, their opponent emerged from the cloud of smoke and ash. The three were on alert as Naruto landed a few feet away from them before sprinting, tanto in hand.

Deidara began to furiously mold clay but he couldn't do it on such short notice, so Kurotsuchi jumped in front of him and blocked the tanto with two kunai in a X formation.

Their eyes met, both noticing that the other had an odd eye color, before Naruto let his tanto raise and jumped back. However, as he did so, Akatsuchi charged him. The large boy swung a heavy and rock covered fist at Naruto.

Naruto smirked beneath his mask as he activated his secret technique; the bloody whirlpool style!

An audible pop was heard, not even as loud as a firecracker, and then a loud clang followed it.

Akatsuchi jumped back as he examined his rock covered hands that were now numb. There was a long, thin, trench in the rock where Naruto's blade had hit. Akatsuchi played the events that happened not even a moment before in puzzlement.

Naruto had parried his punch but then, in a split second, he had spun around and nearly took his head off! The only reason he as still alive was because of the instinct that his sensei installed into him and the fact his arm had already been in position to save his head.

This was the Bloody Whirlpool style; perhaps style was not the right word for it. Theory was a better one since there was no set style; it simply offensified the Whirlpool Dance style and offered a number of theories to do so.

However, Naruto chose none of the advised methods and chose to form his own; none of them appealed to his creative mind. He used the basis of the Kaiten technique that belonged the Hyuga. He puzzled it out after reading about it and those who used it.

He deduced they released chakra from their chakra points in a steady, yet powerful, stream to spin rapidly. Naruto didn't need that and changed it to a sudden burst at his feet and the effects were spectacular.

As Akatsuchi retreated, Naruto pressed forward. He sprung forward and raised his tanto over his left shoulder and began to swing to the right in a downward arc. Akatsuchi threw up both hands, in position to block the blade but he was completely taken by surprise when the blade suddenly came from the left in an upward arc.

"Akatsuchi!" Kurotsuchi yelled as she grabbed his yellow scarf and gave it a mighty pull and brought the large teen to the ground, Naruto's blade missing his head by an inch.

Her larger comrade hadn't even hit the ground before she and Deidara started their counter attack.

A bug shaped bomb left Deidara's hands and attached itself to Naruto while Kurotsuchi finished making her hand-signs  
"Earth Release: Earth Pillar!" she yelled as she smashed her hands onto the ground, a large flat spear of earth hit Naruto in the stomach, sending him away from them, back into the cloud of dust, before Deidara detonated his charge.

A small explosion ensued, it wasn't enough to kill a ninja since it was so hastily made and small but it was more than enough to do some damage.

Naruto grunted as he hit the ground, his right sleeve torn and bleeding. He had gotten to cocky he realized. He thought just because he was winning for the first half that he was untouchable.

Hissing lightly, he got back up and peered into the thick dust that was starting to thin. He could vaguely see their three forms, who were also staring into the dust could. However, judging by the blonde annoyed words, he guessed they couldn't see him yet.

Naruto took a deep breath, his mask protecting him from the harsh air, and calmed himself; just like his teachers instructed him to. He couldn't be cocky and he couldn't underestimate his opponents. This wasn't a spar where he would be told what he did wrong after it; he messed up here then he died.

Deciding on a plan, Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and grabbed a handful of shuriken before throwing them, testing the waters like he was taught.

His ninja tools burst out of the cloud of smoke but were stopped by Akatsuchi suddenly summoning an earth wall and protecting his team.

Naruto hummed in thought; he shouldn't be able to do that. Unless he had already mastered the jutsu to the point he didn't need hand-signs, he shouldn't be able to just summon an earth wall like that.

Unknown to Naruto; Akatsuchi had one of the highest recorded earth affinities in the history of Iwa. He talent for the element could be compared, though significantly less trained, to the seconds Hokage's water affinity.

Either way; it was creating a problem for Naruto

"Get out of there you jerk! Don't hide during our contest, un!" Deidara yelled, feeling completely cheated.

"This isn't a competition nii-san! We're fighting him!" Kurotsuchi corrected with a yell.

"No! He demonstrated amazing art! I returned the favor and now he's hiding like a coward! Unacceptable! UNACCEPTABLE, UN!" Deidara raged as he molded his C4. He was preparing for the next bout with his new, and cowardly, rival.

However, Kurotsuchi wasn't so keen on sharing her rival. She scanned the cloud of thinning smoke for the boy. Excitement pounding away in her chest.

This was different she realized. This was so much different from when she just killed the bandits; she was looking forward to this fight! To test their skills against each others, to see who had trained harder, who was more cunning; who was better!

Her pink eyes rapidly darted around, trying to make out a human-like shape in the mess of dust. She had an idea judging from where the ninja tools emerged from but he might have moved.

She was right with that assumption since another batch of shuriken suddenly flew out of the cloud from a different location. Kurotsuchi deflected two shuriken, the only ones that would have hit her, before charging into the dust cloud.

She wasn't just going to wait and let him plan! She's already seen some of what he can do and, while eager to see more, she didn't want him to gain the advantage.

"Kurotsuchi/Kuro-chan!" Deidara and Akatsuchi yelled before they started to chase after their comrade. However, the moment they did the kunai and shuriken that surrounded them suddenly puffed into Narutos.

"What the-" Deidara yelled before he tossed an explosive chakra charged kunai at one of the clones, detonating it and taking out a few of them. However, it didn't even make a dent in their numbers.

Akatsuchi backed up until he and Deidara were touching backs, and that was when he noticed Deidara was chuckling.

"My rival really is full of surprises, un!" he said before their fight began.

In the cloud of dust, Kurotsuchi and Naruto were also engaging each other. It had ruined Naruto's plan too, he never thought that one of them would charge him like that.

Naruto swung to the right, almost completing the swing, before he focused chakra to his feet and spun rapidly and now his blade was coming from the left. However, Kurotsuchi already had her kunai up in an X formation and caught the blade.

She grinned at him, her face lightly fogged, "I figured out your trick already; it won't work on me!" she boasted before she lowered a kunai and slashed at Naruto with it. He dodged the blade, it nearly slicing his nose, and he scowled.

He thought his technique was really clever; but this girl already figured it out!

If that was the case then it was time he kicked it up a notch. Naruto engaged Kurotsuchi again, his blade coming down from the right in an overhead swing before it suddenly came from the left in an underhand swing. Kurotsuchi grinned as she put her kunai in position but she heard the loud pop again.

Reacting on instinct, she started to roll away. It was that action that saved her arm, though wounded, from being severed by Naruto's right slash.

Kurotsuchi gripped her wounded shoulder and hissed in pain. It didn't occur to her that Naruto would spin again; heck, he could spin hundreds of times if he didn't get dizzy.

_'I can't get close to him,'_ she thought as she clutched her wounded arm. With her arm like this, she wouldn't be able to react in time to block the blade.

However, that suited her perfectly. She was more of a mid-range fighter anyway!

Kurotsuchi flew through a few hand-signs, "Lava Release: Lava Bullet!" she yelled before shooting out a glob of molten rock the size of a basketball out of her mouth.

Naruto's eyes went wide as he threw himself to the side. Kakashi-nii said that there was a lava user among the people that killed those bandits in the cave but he was shocked that it was this girl before him.

She was maybe a few years older than him! Two at the most!

Yet she had done those things. She was the one that had slaughtered those bandits without mercy. The one that killed them as they begged for their lives and as they crawled over their comrades.

Unexpectedly, he felt a tidal wave of sadness crash over him. Would he have to do those things? Would he one day be the one killing bandits without mercy nor hesitation?

Naruto blinked rapidly, clearing his head of the thoughts and refocusing on the fight. He couldn't afford to drift of now; his life was on the line.

Crossing his fingers, a clone poofed next to him before his clone began flying through hand-signs, '_Lighting Release: Lightning ball_,' the clone mentally exclaimed. He thrusted his hand out and a small condensed ball of lighting shot at Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi's eye mirrored Naruto's but a smirk played at her lips. It seemed that her self appointed rival could use three elements like she could! This fight just got more exciting!

The pink-eyed girl dodged the ball of lighting, that was no bigger than a soft ball, narrowly. It came at her faster than she had anticipated and the ball of lighting came close enough that it made her hair stand on end from the static.

The ball of electricity sailed past her to be lost in the dust that surrounded her. Kurotsuchi ignored the sharp pop, the static leaving her body, that could be heard as she grabbed a kunai and tossed it at the masked child before jumping back into the smoke.

Naruto dodged the kunai easily before peering into the dust; he contemplated using a wind jutsu to clear all the annoying dust away but decided against it. If he did that then the other two would be able to see the real him and could focus his attacks on him.

So he crossed off the two wind jutsu he knew off his list until further notice. So he was limited to his fire jutsu and the one lightning jutsu he knew, the same one she had already dodged.

Kurotsuchi took a tactic out of Naruto's book and threw a handful of ninja weapons at him, though they were slightly off and forced him to dodge to the right. It was then he was forced to dodge a glob of lava, the only warning he received was a shout.

However, he hadn't been careful and molten rock splashed on the rock beside him and droplets raining down on him. Naruto furiously patted his arm down, it burning like nothing he had ever experienced.

His left sleeve was filled with holes, revealing heavily burnt skin, and his headband had a few crater marks on it.

Alright; screw stealth! He was going to Air Hammer her into the ground!

Flying through the hand-signs for his jutsu, Naruto then slammed his closed fist into his hand in a clapping motion, his knuckles hitting the palm of his other hand.

The air condensed before him before lurching forward and into the mountain before him.

The dust finally dispersed, revealing that Kurotsuchi had just been outside the range of his jutsu and was looking at him with a wide eyed expression. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the other two were also looking at him.

The dispersal of the dust also revealed an entrance into the mountain. It seemed that there only had been a few feet of rock that covered the entrance.

"HAHA! So you finally show yourself, un!" Deidara shouted as he molded C4 before throwing it at Naruto. However, before the explosive could reach the creator, one of Naruto's clones jumped in front of it.

Naruto sent a silent prayer for the brave clone before he launched himself at Kurotsuchi; she was the weakest right now and needed to take her out first before he took on the other two.

Kurotsuchi saw this and retreated into, slowly entering to, the mouth of the cave. She's felt what Naruto can do at close distance, and was giving herself room to counter attack.

However, she wasn't the only one that saw this and a large tic mark formed on Deidara's head. Why was HIS rival focusing on Kurotsuchi?! What about their contest?!

Enraged, Deidara grabbed all of his C4 and molded it into a ball, focusing his will and desires into it before throwing it high into the air where it began to morph. It was a masterpiece, the greatest work of art that Deidara had ever created.

It changed and formed until it became the size of an adult before falling to earth, its wings catching the wind and arced towards Naruto.

What was once a giant ball of C4 was now a breathtaking dragon. Deidara smiled at his work before detonating it when it reached the mouth of the cave.

It was then that he realized that Kurotsuchi was in the blast radius.

Naruto peeked over his shoulder and saw the pale grey beast chasing him into the cave's mouth. His eyes widened as he picked up his speed but he was still too slow. The dragon stared at him with lifeless grey eyes before glowing white and exploding.

It was the greatest piece of art that Deidara had ever created. The explosion was huge, making the ground tremble and the wind blow. He covered his eyes with his arms as he waited for the wind to die down.

Once it did, he saw that the road was nonexistent and both Kurotsuchi and Naruto were gone.

He looked towards the cave that had been there mere moments before and he saw that it had caved it. Large chunks of rubble and debris covered the entrance.

He could only hope that Kurotsuchi was alive inside.

* * *

Naruto laid still; his head ringing and his body hurting. He blinked once, then twice, before he stood crawled to all fours. He noticed something wet on his forehead and placed a hand against it; it was too dark to tell but he was sure it was blood.

He groaned softly as he pushed himself on two legs, wobbling slightly, before he looked around him. It was really dark but he could faintly see the outlines of the rocks that surrounded him by channelling some chakra to his eyes.

It was then he noticed that he wasn't the only one doing so and saw his opponent standing about twenty feet away from him.

Instantly, both of them were on guard, reaching for their weapons only to find none. Naruto's tanto had been ripped from his grasp during the explosion and the only thing he had in his ninja pouch was the scroll that contained Mazaki and a shuriken.

Kurotsuchi was in a similar state, though she had a single kunai.

Both of them glared at each other before they both began making hand-signs but before they could finish, the ground beneath them rocked. Looking around confused, they not only noticed that they were caved in but many of the stalagmites and stalactites were cracking under pressure; several snapping as they gazed of them, the weight of a mountain to great of a burden for them to carry any longer.

Realizing the implication, both ran towards the left, deeper into the mountain and a second later the cave continued caving in. Debris rained down from above, chunks as small as a child to as large as a house fell from above.

Naruto and Kurotsuchi ran as fast as their legs would carry them; diving deeper into the mountain, their chakra enhanced eyes the only reason they could see anything. Gradually, the cave began to get narrower and narrower until both children were fleeing for their lives shoulder to shoulder.

They pumped their legs, feeling the pebbles of shattered rock hitting them in the back, and they knew that they weren't far from being crushed.

However, when they reached a passage that the cave opened up again, the unthinkable happened.

Kurotsuchi tripped.

The eight year old girl fell forwards, a disbelieving look on her face, as she hit the ground and attempted to keep her momentum going but failed. She rolled uncontrollably for a few seconds before she came to a stop, gazing up at the ceiling of the cave.

It was then she saw that a rather large chunk of rock was falling, it's path ending exactly where she was laying.

Kurotsuchi felt fear overtake her and her body seize up; she didn't want to die like this! Away from all of her friends and family, in some cave that no one would ever visit! She wanted to die in battle; not because of some rock fell on her! Her heart pounded as she clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see how she met her end.

Naruto didn't hear the pitter patter of shoes next to him any longer. He was confused, did the girl go down another path? Did she leave him?

He dared to look behind him, to peek over his shoulder and he saw it. The large chunk of rubble falling directly on top of the girl.

His heart jumped to his throat; she was going to die he realized. She was going to be crushed to death and for some reason, he froze. Not physically of course but mentally.

She was going to die.

The girl, his opponent, the one he didn't even know the name of, was going to die from a chunk of rock.

That...that bothered him.

Naruto didn't know what he was going to be like as he grew up; as the shinobi world slowly changed him. He didn't know who he was going to be, the things he would see nor the things he would do.

He didn't have the answers to the great contradictions of the shinobi world; how killers protect their home by killing others that wanted to protect theirs. How people kill others in revenge for their fallen comrades and how they are then killed in return.

He didn't know what his role was going to be in the grand scheme of things. Would he go with the flow or be a rock in the river, going against the tide?

But there was one thing that he did know. He wasn't the type of person that could just watch someone die, obviously terrified and scared. It didn't matter if it was his enemy or his best friend, he had to do something!

He didn't know if he would always be this way; selfless and kind. The path he chose, the way of the shinobi, might swallow him whole but until it did he'd save anyone he could.

Because...because that is something Uzumaki Naruto does!

In a split second, Naruto turned around and went through a hundred different plans in a single second. His Uzumaki brain, a brain designed to process a hundred different thought in a second; a brain optimized for fuinjutsu.

He couldn't use an explosive tag, the chunks would be big enough to kill her. He wasn't fast enough to run over and back, he wasn't a good enough swordsman to slice the rock in half, he was too low on chakra to make thirty or so shadow clones and make a human rope, he couldn't make a large and dense enough air hammer to knock the rock away...

All of these thoughts and so many more passed through his mind as he watched helplessly as the rock fell. Could he even save her? Desperation filled Naruto's chest, sadness overcame him and he tried to think of something that could save the girl.

Suddenly everything exploded in his chest, outrage, sadness, anger, denial all overcame him as he thrusted out his arm.

Much to his surprise, an arm of pure chakra, the color of the purest sapphires, emerged from his palm. His eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed in concentration; he could feel the arm lose its form if he wasn't focused.

The blue arm stretched until it neared Kurotsuchi's fallen form and grabbed it.

SNAP!

Kurotsuchi screamed out in pain as her leg was broken, the first of many bones, but a moment later; instead of being crushed to death, she was sailing through the air. Her eyes widened in shock before they closed again as she hit the ground with a loud thump, yelling and groaning in pain as her leg was jostled.

She laid still for a moment before yet again opening her eyes and, much to her relief, she wasn't dead. But how? How did she sail through the air and why wasn't she dead.

As if to answer her question, she heard the pitter patter of sandals hitting stone approaching her before roughly throwing her over his shoulder, "It's not safe here," she heard him say but her mind wasn't believing her ears.

Why did he save her? Did he just forget that they had been trying to kill each other not even five minutes ago? Was he just an idiot? Or was he one of those hero types?

They, or rather he, sprinted like that for nearly five minutes. Slowly, the rubble began to taper off and cease all together. They continued in silence; Kurotsuchi trying not to scream with each step and Naruto wondering what the blue arm was.

_'What was that?'_ Naruto thought was he looked at his palm, trying to force the arm to come out again but it simply wouldn't. He tried to focus but failed to; he mind was divided on too many things. Where was the exit, what was he supposed to do with the girl, who was the girl, did he need to worry about her killing him, what was the blue arm etc.

After failing, Naruto decided to ask Kakashi-nii about it once he got out of here. He'll know what to do!

Naruto entered a sizable opening and set Kurotsuchi down, her grunting and groaning as she moved her leg. He walked to the center of the opening and grabbed his scroll, the same one that Mazaki was sealed in, and channelled some chakra into it.

Firewood poofed into existence before Naruto set it alight using his Fire Release: Bonfire jutsu and light bathed the dark cavern.

Now that he could see more than a vague outline, Naruto noticed for the first time that there were marking on the walls that surrounded him. They were white, like someone grabbed a knife or another rock and wrote arrows on the caverns walls.

"Who did these?" Naruto wondered aloud, not expecting an answer.

However, he still received one.

"Bandits probably...," Kurotsuchi muttered as she looked into the flames in front of her before grabbing a few sticks and placed them on both side of her leg and tied them together; making a splint. However, she still noticed it when Naruto sent her a questioning look. She took a deep breath, wondering why she was even bothering, before answering.

"This is the only road on this mountain so bandits probably found this natural cavern and sealed it off using a minor earth jutsu; some can use chakra and a few supplementary jutsu, they're still bandits since they're not trained. They would then wait for a caravan to pass by and jump out to grab it, take the stuff and walk back to their base that was a few feet away," Kurotsuchi explained in a monotone voice.

Naruto was about to ask if they should worry about if there were still bandits but the question died in his throat when he remembered the copses that covered the road where his team fought.

There was a small silence that followed before Naruto asked a question, "...a few days ago me and my team came across a cave filled with...," he trailed off but it was obvious what he was hinting at, "...that was you; wasn't it?" He asked.

Kurotsuchi flinched as if struck; she remembered the cave Naruto was talking about all too well. She didn't answer at first, then minutes passed and Naruto wondered of she was ever going to but then she nodded ever so slightly.

"Yes,...that was me..." she said in a small voice, her eyes going distant before they narrowed at him, "Why?! Why do you want to know? You want to know how they screamed? How they begged? How if felt as I just tore threw them, like they were butter and I was the knife? You want to know how it felt?!" Kurotsuchi yelled, anger and sadness burning in her eyes.

She had managed to forget! She had finally managed to taker her mind off her deeds; the bottomless pit of guilt diminishing ever so slightly. Now, this kid, her enemy and savior, reminds her of it for no reason other than idle curiosity?!

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden outburst but then he remembered a conversation that he overheard between Kakashi-nii and Suzuki. How the lava user that killed those bandits had been new to killing and was emotional.

He looked into her rage and guilt filled eyes; thinking that he might one day have eyes like that before saying the words he thought she needed to hear, the words that he hoped that someone would tell him when he looked like she did.

"You aren't a bad person," he said, and earned a disbelieving stare from Kurotsuchi. He saw the doubtful expression on her face, "You didn't kill me," he said with a shrug, like it was obvious what he was talking about.

Her eyes narrowed, "What?"

"When we were fighting; I got cocky and you could have killed me had you used and earth spear instead of an earth pillar. But you didn't; your first reflex isn't to kill, so your not a bad person," Naruto explained, using logic only children are capable of using.

Kurotsuchi stared at Naruto for several seconds before she burst into insane laughter. Her laughs echoed off the walls, reverberating throughout the cave.

Naruto started at her with a worried expression beneath his mask; this wasn't a happy kind of laugh, he realized. This was a laugh of someone who was hanging ten off the cliff of insanity.

Slowly, her laugh died off into giggles then into a slight chuckle, "Why?" she asked, sounding exhausted. Like someone who was nearing the end of their rope.

"Why are you trying to make me feel better; why did you save me...just...just why?" she asked as she leaned back, her eyes trained on Naruto's.

Naruto paused before he sat down across from her, "Because...I know one day that I'm not going to be this way," he said simply with a shrug, "one day I'm going to kill people and do bad things; Kakashi-nii says that okay since I'm doing it to protect my home but..." he trailed off with another shrug.

"So, what; you want to be a hero before you become the bad guy?" Kurotsuchi asked, trying to figure out the boy before her. He confused her more than any puzzle or riddle.

"You do realize that were from different villages right? Two villages that hate each other," she continued and got a scoff from the boy.

"I don't care about that stuff. You needed help so I helped you," he said, like he shouldn't need any other motivation.

Surprised by his answer, Kurotsuchi examined the boy; were his motivations really so simple? Did he really try to cheer her up and save her just because he felt like he should? Like it was something anyone should do, regardless of the who, what, when, where and why?

She's never met someone like that before; in her village strength was valued above all else. People didn't help the weak in favor of bullying them. While Kurotsuchi never actively bullied before, she did believe in the philosophy.

The weak only existed to be food for the strong. It was an ideal that conflicted with Konoha's ideal of the 'Will of Fire' and was one of the reasons why Iwa saw Konoha as soft.

_'Maybe it's not so bad...'_ Kurotsuchi thought, knowing if it hadn't been for Naruto's soft nature, she would be dead.  
Not only did he save her life, his words helped diminish the pit of guilt in her stomach. She didn't kill him. She had the ability, the opportunity, and the motive but when given the chance her first instinct wasn't to kill.

That made her feel so much better in ways she didn't know how to describe; she had been terrified that she became a cold blooded killer. A true Shinobi but she was wrong. She didn't kill on instinct, on reflex. She was still herself; even if she was a killer, a murder, she was still Kurotsuchi. The loud mouth, dis-respective girl that loved her home more than words to describe.

There was silence as Kurotsuchi thought about the enigma that was Naruto and Naruto was thinking about how to get out of here and about the weird blue arms. However, the silence was broken.

"Kurotsuchi," she said softly, gazing into the fire.

"What?"

"Kurotsuchi; that's my name," she said with a small shrug. Naruto's done a lot for her in a short, chaotic, amount of time so she figured he deserved to know her name.

Understanding Naruto's eyes before he smiled beneath his mask, "Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure to met you!" Naruto said with a smile, though it was hidden behind his mask.

Kurotsuchi's lips twitched at the boys suddenly cheerful nature; like the two of them had just become the best of friends. One would think that they were at the park instead of being sealed inside of a cave.

The elapsed into a comfortable silence again for a short time before Naruto brought up the issue at hand.

"So...do you have any ideas how to get out of here?" he asked as he stared into the fire.

Kurotsuchi shrugged her shoulders, "Bandits used this place so they probably have a second entrance that we can use as an exit," she offered, realizing that due to her broken leg, that she still didn't know how it broke, she was either going to have to be carried again, crawl, or walk on a broken leg.

No. Hell no. She'd die before she let herself be carried again!

Naruto nodded, "That makes sense," he said before he got up and looked at the arrows that marked the walls at regular intervals, "do you think we should just backtrack these arrows?" he asked, wanting Kurotsuchi's opinion.

She wanted to get out just as badly as he did.

Kurotsuchi paused for a moment before nodding, "Sounds good to me," she said before she forced herself on one leg, her other being splinted between two sticks, and hobbled her way to the fire. Grabbing a flaming stick, she looked over at Naruto, "I'm taking point," she said in a competitive tone.

Naruto's eyes narrowed but he allowed it before grabbing his own torch.

The two followed the arrows for what seemed like forever; it probably felt like that because of the pace they were forced to go with Kurotsuchi at point. They took twists and turns, getting hopelessly lost if it hadn't been for the arrows. They backtracked them into the depths of the mountain, they found a barrel of torches and replaced their burning sticks with them.

They walked in silence as they trekked through the darkness. Neither of them wanting or knowing to say anything. They had attempted to engage small talk but it quickly lead to their respective villages; what it was like there and where stuff was. It hadn't taken them long to clam up about those details and both gave up on making small talk.

_'We've been walking down this slope for awhile,'_ Naruto thought as he trudged downwards. If Naruto had to guess, they were nearing ground level.

They walked down a few slopes like these before but this was where the arrows told them to go.

He spared Kurotsuchi a glance, noticing how her hobbling seemed so much more exaggerated and the sheen of sweat that covered her forehead. Though he could only see half of her face at any given time, he knew that she wore a pained expression. Her leg must have been killing her.

However, though he barely knew her, he could tell she was as stubborn as Akito, if not more, and would never admit to any kind of weakness. So, he was going to have to be the one.

"Hey, I'm tired, can we take a break," he asked in a slightly whiny voice, a voice any child possessed.

Kurotsuchi paused, wiping her brow of sweat, "I guess, if you really want to...no more than five minutes though!" she said, taking command before leaning heavily against the wall.

She let out a small breath of relief and earned a look from Naruto, "I can ca-" he was cut off by a sharp glare from Kurotsuchi.

"One; I'm not going to accept charity from the enemy. Two; there is no way in hell I'm letting anyone carry me. Ever." She said as the light from the flames danced around her face.

Naruto sighed, "We're still enemies?" he asked, feeling slightly disappointed. He meant what he said; he really couldn't careless about where a person came from. All he cared about was if they were nice and if they were then he wanted to be friends with him; those were the only two requirements for him to add them to his slowly growing list.

"Of course were still enemies; just because we're teaming up now doesn't mean we're friends. Konoha and Iwa hate each other, three wars and your Yellow Flash slaughtering a third of our forces will do that," she said in a stern, almost angry, tone.

Remembering that man-made her blood boil. Even though she had only been a year old when the massacre happened; she had been raised surrounded by the anger and damage he caused. She grew up with empty streets and so many orphans running around.

She understood it was war and people died in war. She even understood that there were probably just as many orphans in Konoha and that they had suffered just as much.

But it wasn't a single man that slaughtered nearly a third of their ninja population. It wasn't Konoha that had been repeatedly humiliated. It wasn't Konoha that had a sharp decline in missions and their economy nearly collapsing.

So, while she didn't actively hate Konoha; she wasn't fond of the village. They had hurt each other too much and she loved her village too much for her opinion to be unbiased.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't hate you; so why can't we be friends?"

"My little history lesson went way over your head, didn't it," Kurotsuchi sighed and looked at the boy, who was gazing right back at her with an expecting look in his eye.

"So what if Konoha and Iwa hate each other? I don't hate you and I don't think you hate me; so, doesn't that mean we can be friends?" Naruto pressed; a life time of solitude made him starved for any form of friendship.

Kurotsuchi looked at him with a ridiculous expression; was her being his friend really mean that much to him?

_'He saved your life,'_ whispered a voice in the back of her mind, _'then he carried you instead of leaving you for dead,'_

But he was from a different village.

But he saved her life.

But his brother killed Rakan, she could tell by the mask.

But he saved her life and didn't leave her for dead with a broken leg and darkness.

But she raised to hate Konoha ninja.

But he proved himself worthy of her respect.

But they're supposed to be enemies.

But he managed to lessen her guilt.

She clenched her teeth before sighing in an exaggerated fashion, "Fine. I'll be your friend," she said with a small measure of annoyance.

Despite her harsh tone, she felt some happiness that the odd boy wanted to be her friend. She had very few; her status as a prodigy, her father being so imposing, her grandfather being the Tsuchikage, all these factors drove away any potential friends. The only friends she did have were Deidara-nii and Akatsuchi.

"Great!" Naruto said, mentally adding Kurotsuchi's name to his mental list of all his friends. She was his thirteenth friend!

Kurotsuchi watched in idle amusement at how happy Naruto was over her agreeing to be his friend. Perhaps he was like her? Maybe for whatever reason people stayed away from him and made it hard to make friends?

"Alright, stop jumping around. We have to get out of here," Kurotsuchi said before she leaned off the wall and resumed walking, Naruto right behind her with the same smile at his lips.

* * *

Kakashi was dead on his feet. Everything hurt and every movement felt like it was in slow motion. His arms and legs felt like they were made of lead with weights strapped to them. Sweat drenched his mask and a wet sheen could be seen on his visible skin.

Kakashi breathed in a ragged breath, ignoring how difficult the action was and the sharp pain he felt in his ribs. At least three ribs were broken along with his left arm; cuts and burns of varying sizes coated his body; adding to his overwhelming pain.

He looked to his right, his sharingan eye closed to save what little chakra he had left, and examined Suzuki. She was in a worse state than he was, due to not having the sharingan to give her a heads up.

Her legs were trembling as she stood and the kunai in her hand shaking violently. Dried blood covered a side of her face and her right eye remained closed. Her left arm dangled uselessly and she favored her right leg.

She was a mess and looked like it was taking every ounce of her will power to remain standing, much less fighting.

His eye flicked back to their opponent, who looked winded and sweat dripped from his skin but he was lacking in crippling injuries like they were. They had landed more than a few blows but Kitsuchi was a taijutsu expert and lessened the damage that would have been dealt.

_'I really don't know how to win this one,'_ Kakashi thought as his own kunai that he held trembled slightly. He was out of chakra, he wouldn't even be able to use a C-rank, and his body was to battered to either escape. Not that he would; Suzuki didn't even look like she could take more than a few steps before she crapped out and he wasn't going to abandon a comrade.

Suzuki looked over at him, as if reading his thoughts, tried to smile lightly but light soon faded from her eyes and she fell over unconscious.

Kakashi cursed before leaping to the side, putting himself between Kitsuchi and Suzuki. The action caused his opponent to grunt.

"Defending the weak is going to get you killed," he warned, not that it mattered anyway; he silently added. His father was going to blow a gasket when he heard that Rakan was killed in battle and have an aneurism if his son died as well.

The very least he could do was take out Konoha's copycat ninja and some other jonin. Hopefully that would manage to prevent the old man from obliterate everything in sight.

Kakashi narrowed his eye, "I would rather die than let you kill a comrade," he replied in a steely tone, hoping that Naruto would forgive him.

Kitsuchi scoffed before slamming his fist together, "If that's the case then I'll be more than happy to end you," he said but before he could leap at the silver-haired man, an explosion rocked the mountain.

The ground trembled even all this way; indicating that whatever had exploded was huge and powerful.

Kitsuchi's jaw dropped as he watched the dust cloud cover the side of the mountain, chunks of loose poured down from the mountain. The sight was horrific but he couldn't look away; only one thought was going through his mind.

Deidara's in trouble

He looked away, over at his two, one now, opponents and ground his teeth in frustration. Who ever or whatever was up there was strong enough that his student saw fit to use that amount of C4.

While Deidara wasn't the most calmest, or sanest, of people; he knew better than to just throw all that C4 around with his teammates near by.

Then a thought struck him; cold dread gripped his heart.

What if he teammates were already dead? What if Deidara was just getting vengeance?

_'Kurotsuchi,'_ he thought as his eyes darted between the mountain and Kakashi. Was his daughter dead? Was she killed? Or was he over thinking things? If she were dead than he know; right? Some parental instinct would be going off so that had to mean that his daughter was alright!

His eyes darted back to the mountain, before they settled on Kakashi, who was staring at him with an unreadable emotion in his eye. Then he quickly realized that it was the same emotion in his; worry.

"We'll settle this some other time Hatake," Kitsuchi said before turning a sprinting towards the mountain. His daughter always came first.

Kakashi didn't allow himself to slump over in relief but turned to Suzuki and hobbled over to her before throwing her over his shoulder, her legs scarping the ground, and grunted in pain.

"Come on Suzu-chan; we have to check up on our genin as well," Kakashi said as he began to limp towards the mountain.

_'Please...please be alright Naruto,'_

* * *

Hana was seeing double; no, make that triple. Forget trying to pull of a Tsuga, she was having trouble standing on two legs and the thought of rapidly spinning made her want to barf.

Not that she would anyway; she found out the hard way that her head wasn't even close to being as hard as diamond. Blood caked her face, hiding the red triangle tattoos, from where her head split open.

Her nin-dogs were struggling to stand next to her, one of them was down and she didn't think the other two had any more fight left in them. She understood whole heartedly, she didn't have much gas in the tank either

She looked to her right and saw Lavi face first in the dirt. He passed out some time ago; either from chakra exhaustion or his extensive injuries. The academy style hadn't been enough to stop the juggernaut and he plowed through any defence Lavi had.

His bugs were useless against Tsui's impenetrable skin so he didn't even bother attempting to use his trump card; it would have been wasted. The best he managed to do was send a few insects to cover Tsui's eyes and give them a few second break.

So, now it was just Hana going against the juggernaut and she didn't think, no; she knew, she wasn't going to be able to last much longer.

She looked at her opponent, her kunai trembling in her hands, and was utterly pissed by what she saw.

They hadn't even managed to scratch the surface of the diamond skin; not that she really thought they could. The only blood that was on them was their own and there wasn't a single injury on the shining teen.

That was because he managed to stay coated in diamond for their entire fight. He could do this without draining his genin reserves by only turning his skin into fluid diamond; something his father couldn't do.

That was because the theory of evolution proved true in their case; his father, Rakan, was the first with this kekkei genkai and since he was the second case, some of the flaws had been eliminated. Not only that but it had also become stronger.

Tsui grinned at Hana, noticing how dead on her feet she was, "You know...I'm gonna be honest, I'm kinda impressed that you managed to last this long. Even some jonin don't last this long against me," he informed. Admittedly; that was purely because they couldn't do anything to hurt him or were smart enough to restrain him.

Hana scoffed, though it sounded more like a wheeze, "I feel so honored," she said in an angry tone.

Tsui shrugged, "Just thought you'd like to know before you die," he said in a careless tone before he started to walk over.

The Haimaru brothers growled fiercely as the teen approached, however it did little to stop him. One of the beaten dogs lunged at the diamond encased teen, ignoring Hana's scream for him to stop, but was kicked away by Tsui before he had a chance to sink his teeth into him.

"Shitty mutt," he muttered before he continued walking.

Hana backed up with each step, until she was a single step away from falling of the side of the mountain. She looked over her shoulder, thinking Akito had been right about the drop, before she turned and glared at her opponent.

Tsui grinned sadistically, "What to chose, what to chose? To jump and kill yourself...or...get beaten to death by me? Neither option seems very appealing but I would recommend the second one. At least one of us would enjoy it," he said, his crazed grin never leaving his face.

Hana gulped, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't die like this! She couldn't die on some mountain far from her home, she couldn't die on her first real mission! She had so much she wanted to do; people and things to see, dreams to achieve!

What could she do though? Everything she had just bounce right off this guy and she wasn't in the condition to fight anymore. Did she just give up? She knew how much it hurt getting hit by those heavy and hard fists and she knew how Tsui liked to play with his opponents.

If she fought him than her passing would be far from painless.

So...did she jump? A few seconds of free falling before she hit the ground? She could even pretend that she was flying and not killing herself...

The option...appealed to her when she stared at her opponent; the blood of her comrades drying on his impenetrable skin.

She looked back over her shoulder; thinking long and hard about how she wanted to die, she had long given up any hope of a victory, before her leg was bitten by one of her canine comrades.

She looked down in shock, none of the brothers had ever bitten her before, and stared at the blood pouring from her leg from where her partner's teeth sank into her flesh. He looked up at her with cold eyes; eyes filled with disappointment and anger.

She understood in that instant that her partners were pissed at her; angered that she would even pick the first option.  
She smiled lightly and her partner released her leg and growled at Tsui, who watched the display with a raised eyebrow.

She wasn't going to jump. She was a Inuzuka dammit! The best clan in Konoha; in the whole fucking world! Her clan didn't know the meaning of the words give up or quit! They put their everything into everything that they did and they accomplished what they set out to do or they died trying!

Hana gripped her kunai, resolve flooding her eyes, "Piss off; I'm not dying here," she snarled and earned a laugh from her opponent.

"Oh, you still have some fight left? Good; hell, maybe your right; maybe I'll take you back to Iwa as a trophy instead of killing you," he said before he began to charge.

However, mere moments before he and Hana engaged; an explosion tore through the mountain, causing everything to shake.

Hana dove forward, grabbing her canine comrades as she dove, away from the mountains edge. Rubble rained down from above, blocking her sight of Tsui, Rock pelted her as she dove inward and deposited her canine friends in the safest spot she could find.

However, her work wasn't done since she had to find her human friends now.

She looked over where Lavi and Akito had been laying unconscious and saw that they were still there. She dashed back out, her arms covering her head, and she once again neared the edge to save her friends. She grabbed Akito's sleeve before tossing him over her shoulder, she heard him grunt in pain before silencing.

Hana looked over at Lavi, trying to see his form through the gathering dust and pebbles that blocked her vision. She saw him laying near the edge, trying to get up but his body to broken to move.

Their eye's met and Hana reached out, hoping Lavi could at least move his arms and to her relief he could. They grabbed hands, before the unthinkable happened.

A large chunk of rubble it the road next to them and caused a large portion of the road to fall with it. Hana screamed as the road cracked between her and Lavi, their hands straining to stay together but it was for not.

Lavi slipped from her grasp, slowly falling with the rock he laid on; a look of disbelief and shock plaster over his face.

"LAVI!" Hana screamed as she reached for her comrade; terror written on her face. However, Akito's face shifted from pure shock to resigned reluctance to a small smirk in the matter of a second.

Lavi said something to her, his lips barley moving, before his head dipped below the edge of the mountain and was out of sight. Hana bit down on her lip as tears leaked from her eyes before she turned away from the mountain edge and to her nin-dogs; she still had to protect Akito.

It was when they were all huddled together that she allowed herself to cry for she hadn't been able to hear Lavi's last words.

* * *

Kurotsuchi sucked in her first breath of fresh air in what seemed like three forever's.

She and Naruto had finally escape from the mountain nearly an hour after their last break. The arrows had finally come to an end at a dead end. At first they thought they had been screwed but Naruto Air Hammered the dead end out of frustration and they then realized it was only a thin covering of rock that blocked the entrance.

Naruto stood next to her breathing in fresh air; a welcome change from the stale air they had been breathing for hours now.

He looked over at Kurotsuchi, who was basking in the near dusk light before looking at him.

"You weren't lying...were you, you really will be my friend," Naruto asked, his eyes betraying the nervousness he felt.

However, he had nothing to worry about for Kurotsuchi nodded, "Yeah. We're friends," she said, looking down at the boy that managed to become her enemy, rival, savior and then rival/friend in a single day.

He was a mystery but Kurotsuchi was sure she'd figure him out sooner or later.

Naruto smiled beneath his mask, "Good...I guess this is where we part ways. I recognize this path from one we took up the mountain so Kakashi-nii is near by," Naruto explained.

Kurotsuchi nodded, "I'm not to far away from the regrouping point pops made," she said before turning to Naruto and offered a hand, "you know..., I still haven't seen what you look like," Kurotsuchi said as Naruto shook her hand.  
With his free hand, he pulled down his mask, revealing a face with a foxy grin and three whisker marks on each cheek.

Kurotsuchi just smirked, before letting go, "See ya around Uzumaki Naruto," she said before turning her back to him and walking the opposite direction he was going.

"Yeah...see ya around," Naruto said before walking the other way.

Neither would know that the next time they would meet it would be as enemies once again.

**So ends the longest chapter I've ever, and ever will, write.**

**LEAVE A REVIEW! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Boom; two updates in a week! I kinda just pumped this one out due to the awesome amount of reviews I got from you guys and girls.**

**Also, I'm looking for another beta in addition too Dark-God-Elijah. Mistakes have managed to slip through the two of us and I need someone to find those mistakes. Ideally, I would like a nitpicker but I will settle for a third set of eyes that will point out any glaring errors.**

**Now, on to the chapter and leave a review when you're done!**

Lavi opened his eyes and saw absolutely nothing. His heart pounded in his chest; where was he? What happened? Why was he here? All these thought passed through his mind before his calm demeanor took control and he answered his questions one at a time.

Where was he? He was in his clans airum; a place where clan members were placed if their hives were running low. It was a pitch black building that promoted rapid reproduction among the insects through the use of pheromones. When used with Secret Technique: Cocoon, entire hives could be filled within a day. He had activated the technique after the fight so he wasn't aware of what happened after it.

Why was he here? His hive reached critical levels during his fight with the black haired teenager. He had already been in the red when it came to hornets and his kikaichu had been all but decimated against him.

What happened? That could be best told through a flashback.

**Flashback**

Lavi's eyes widened in shock as his hand slipped away from Hana's, noticing that she looked terrified of the implication. He slowly dipped downwards, a huge portion of the cliff falling with him.

Was he going to die? Was it really all over for him? Was this how his life ended, before it could even really begin? No; no it was not. Why you might ask? What could possibly stop him from falling to certain death? The answer was simple.

It was his trump card.

Aconitum plexippus or the venom hawk butterfly. His third species and the one that would save him.

He sent Hana a small smile and said, "Don't worry, I can fly," before his head dipped below the edge of what remained of the road. The next thing he knew, dust enveloped him. Summoning the last of his chakra, he called upon his third species of insect, commanding them to save him.

To answer his call, butterflies escaped from his body. Aconitum plexippus, a red butterfly with black trimming and designs on it's large wings. Their wing span was about as long as your hand; several inches longer than the average butterfly.

They also had a notable difference; instead of having a antenna to drink nectar from flowers, they had a small circular mouth lined with razor sharp teeth that dripped venom. They ranked number three on the list of most venomist insects.

However, that was a recent addition to the list because this species did not exist three years ago.

The species was developed in one of the Aburame labs that were meant to improve or invent new species of insect. This was done through the use of selective breading, chakra mutations, adaptation and evolution.

Aconitum plexippus was the most successful of the experimentation and he was given the opportunity to merge it with his hive because of his past success with merge one invasive species with another.

His butterflies hooked on one another while gripping his shirt until it seemed that he had two butterfly wings emerging from his back and they flapped in total unison. He sailed though the air, escaping the cloud of dust that hung around the mountain before dive bombing towards the ground and landing.

He landed gently and his butterflies began to race back inside of him; however, it was not nearly as many that had come out. Nearly half of his butterflies dropped to the ground around him and shriveled up into balls before crumbling away.

The Aconitum plexippus were easily over stressed and died because of it. If they worked too hard or moved too much they could die. It was a problem that plaqued Lavi and the scientists; they tried to solve it but they couldn't because they didn't know what was the source of the problem.

The only thing they could do was eliminate one possible cause with every generation of the butterfly.

Lavi crushed the sadness that surged in his chest; he hated the fact that his insect died for him, and sent a silent thank you to his insect before turning away to search for the rest of his team; ignoring the blinding pain he he felt all over.

**End Flashback**

That answered all of his questions. Slowly, Lavi's eyes adjusted to the darkness and with the help of some chakra, he could make out shapes and outlines. Lavi sat up from the bed he had been laying on before swing out of it and leaving the room.

If he was awake than it meant that his insects were in the green zone.

Lavi was thankful that his eyes were covered by his sunglasses because he still winced when the light hit his eyes; as the mild pain faded away, he saw a woman standing at the entrance.

She wore a high collared shirt that hid the bottom half of her face, a signature look for every Aburame, but you could tell she had a pretty face by the upper half. She looked up when he opened the door and did a small bow when she saw it was him.

"I am glad to see you doing well Lavi-san," she said, "it is twelve o'clock and your father will be arriving shortly," she continued.

Lavi nodded, he was well respected despite his age. He had three separate species inside of him and one of them were experimental. His name was already being muttered with respect even outside of his clan by those who knew about the Aburame.

To prove her words true, Lavi's father entered the building silently but with the air of confidence. Lavi looked over at his father and he and the women bowed politely. His father had made a name for himself in the third shinobi war.

"I am glad to see that you are well," his father said, "you have been out for some time; your butterflies are what took the longest considering the stages they must go through to become butterflies," his father said before he gestured for Lavi to follow him.

They walked through the clan compound, hives hanging over head and Aburame's walking through it. There were only two children of all the people in the compound; the clan heir and a boy with a black mask that covered the top half of his face.

Lavi absently wondered if he should perhaps introduce Naruto to them. The mostly blonde boy seemed to be very accepting of his clans tendencies and quirks.

"Hatake-san and Uzumaki-san are giving their reports now, so I am not clear on what occurred on your mission and why it was necessary for you to use Secret Technique: Cocoon. I was hoping that you could answer a few questions for me," his father said as they entered their home.

Lavi's mother was in the kitchen, preparing tea, when she heard the two enter. She dropped everything that she was doing and grabbed a ladle that was ever hanging near the window perch before she entered the living area.

Both men looked at the woman, the bottom half of her face hidden like all Aburame's were, but they could tell the woman was angry.

"Mother-" Lavi wasn't interrupted but the ladle slamming on the top of his head, abruptly cut him off.

"Don't 'mother' me! What were you thinking?! You could have died Lavi!" his mother wailed as she slammed the ladle down on him once again for good measure.

Lavi rubbed the top of his head in pain and ignored his fathers light chuckling; which was abruptly cut off when his mother slammed the ladle on him with the shout that it wasn't funny.

A small grin made it's way on Lavi's face. His mother was one of the more expressive and irrational Aburame's; why? Because she had married into the clan in her mid twenties and while she adopted some of their looks she remained the same in personality.

His mother pinned a scolding glare at the two, "Now! Tell me what happened on your mission!" she commanded before a thought stuck her, "I've already made tea!" she said with flourish and headed back into the kitchen.

Lavi and his father sat at the small table, already discussing the missions contents before his mother once again entered the room.

Ahh...it was good to be alive.

* * *

Hiruzen took in a deep breath as he gazed at the people before him; all of them were heavily bandaged and wounded; except for the smallest one. They were covered in casts or white bandaged until they looked like they were attempting to become a mummy.

The God of Shinobi turned his eyes to the smallest one, who still wore a mask that covered any expression his face might be revealing, "So, after you escaped from the cave, you followed the road until you meet back up with Kakashi, correct," Hiruzen repeated.

He had just heard Naruto's briefing of what happened on the mission from his point of view. Normally, he'd have the ninja involved write up a report but this was a special case. Much had happened to the team plus two on their first C-rank and he needed to hear it personally.

The beaten and broken ninja managed to deliver their client to the Land of Tea, who had been all to happy to get away from the deranged ninja, and went to the hospital to get a rough patch up job. It was then that Kakashi summoned Pakkun and had him deliver a request for a retrieval team and medics. The retrieval team picked up the ninja, sealing them into sealing scrolls, and returned to Konoha where they were then operated on.

Suzuki and Akito were still in the hospital while Lavi was recovering at his clans compound but they all seemed to be in stable condition. Kakashi should be there as well but he insisted coming to the debriefing.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, ji-uhhh, Hokage-sama," he replied, temporarily forgetting that he was addressing his boss and not his grandfather figure. Hiruzen smirked faintly as he heard the trip up but didn't comment on it.

Hiruzen took in another breath, "Now, can you show me what 'blue arm' that you were talking about Naruto-kun?" he asked and got a nod from Naruto.

He gripped his wrist and focused solely on forcing the odd blue hand to emerge, and slowly it did. It rose from his hand in a slow, jerky manner but the hand itself was in normal shape until it hovered a few inches above Naruto's real hand.

Hiruzen leaned in and examined the odd charka hand and noticed several differences from a normal hand; the finger tips were sharp and there didn't seem to be any form of knuckle nor wrist.

He hummed in thought and shifted through his limited knowledge of the Uzumaki clan; despite being such a well known clan, not much outside of their prowess with kenjutsu and fuinjutsu was known.

This was because they lived on an island far off the main land that they settled back during the waring clan era. Because of this, they had limited exposure to the main land save for missions.

The Uzumaki were a very secretive clan however they weren't so in a shady way. They kept to themselves and preferred it that others did the same. Hiruzen didn't know if it was because they had secrets worth protecting or if they simply grew use to their isolation and didn't want to be disturbed.

From what knew and what he could safely guess; Naruto's chakra chakra arm was some variation of Kushina's chakra chains; however, if that was the case, then it debased his theory that only females in the Uzumaki clan had the chakra manipulation kekkei genkai.

Then again he had based that theory on the fact that he never saw a male Uzumaki use the mystical chains.

Hiruzen bit his tongue and wished that he could read the few scrolls Kushina had left for her son in case she died. They were stamped with the official Uzumaki seal and he could only guess at the contents. He was waiting for Naruto to become a chunin or until he grew up; since he didn't know what the scrolls contained, he didn't want to risk Naruto learning something he shouldn't or wasn't ready for.

So, in the end, he could only guess at the source Naruto's new ability and was clueless on if it was a completely new kekkei genkai, or a variation of Kushina's chakra chains, or even possibly a secret of the Uzumaki clan.

Hiruzen gave the boy a proud smile, his face not betraying his questions or suspicions, "Most amazing Naruto-kun, a truly impressive ability!" he praised; he wasn't lying either. He could only guess at the immense potential that the kekkei genkai held.

Though a mask his face, Hiruzen could easily see the giant smile devouring the boys face.

Naruto turned to his elder brother, wanting to be praised by him as well and got a pat on the head and an eye smile from the injured man.

"It seems like it'll be really useful; we'll add it on your list of things to train," Kakashi said, trying to think of the best way to train a unknown kekkei genkai.

During Naruto beaming at the praise, and excitement of the training, Hiruzen continued, "Now, tell me how you discovered this ability," he ordered in a kind tone. Perhaps finding the cause would hint at the source of Naruto's ability.

Naruto hesitated, Kurotsuchi's words going through his mind about how Iwa and Konoha hated each other. While he didn't hate them, he didn't know if jiji and everyone else did. However, in the end, his child like innocence won out and he told the truth but he left out their friendship.

He was testing the waters.

"When I was running in the cave, Kurotsuchi, the ninja that I fought, tripped and was going to get crushed...I'm not sure how it happened but I got really mad and the arm came out. I used it to grab her, I broke her leg on accident, and pulled her out of the way," he explained with a small shrug though his eyes were slightly weary of their reactions.

Hiruzen suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to smoke. Naruto had saved the granddaughter of the leader of the nation they might be going to war with.

This was both potentially a good thing or a overwhelmingly a bad thing.

It might make Iwa a little less likely to march the war path but if they chose to do so anyway; Naruto gave them more time to sharpen a dangerous kunai. Kurotsuchi was a prodigy on par with Naruto and if the old fossil decided to teach her dust release...

Hiruzen shivered at the thought.

That wasn't even the only issue! Naruto had saved an enemy ninja! While that had the great marking of a person, it was a terrible and life threatening habit for a shinobi.

He sighed to himself and looked in Naruto's eyes, who was eying him wearily, and repressed an even bigger sigh. It seems Naruto had an idea of what he had done or knew about the strained relationship between Iwa and Konoha.

"Naruto-kun; I am proud of you for saving a life, immensely proud...however, you shouldn't have done so," Hiruzen said in a grave tone. He decided to cut out the source of the problem that caused Naruto to save the enemy shinobi. Dealing with saving what amounts to royalty can be dealt with later.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, anger flashing through them, but before he had a chance to say anything, Hiruzen continued.

"You did a very good thing by saving a life, something everyone should do if given the chance, but Naruto you saved an enemy shinobi. Saving a life is commendable but saving an enemy is foolish," Hiruzen explained, trying to put his thoughts in words that Naruto could understand.

It was true, he was proud of Naruto for being selfless and kind enough that he immediately saved someone without concern for himself nor consequence. However, in the shinobi world, such a thing would get him killed. He couldn't be so naive and tenderhearted that he saved his enemies; they might be grateful but that wouldn't stop them from planting a knife in his back.

As much as Hiruzen wished he didn't; he had to break Naruto of this tenderhearted mentality. He wanted the boy to stay as he was; kind and selfless but he couldn't afford Naruto being so on a mission or on the battlefield. Konoha was just starting to get its feet under them, loosing Naruto would be catastrophic.

Naruto ground his teeth; why shouldn't he save a person? If he had all this awesome power, shouldn't he use it to help people? What did it matter if they were from another village? Even the thought of leaving someone to die didn't sit well with Naruto.

Hiruzen sighed when he saw defiance and anger roar in Naruto's eyes but said nothing. He didn't expect for the boy to boy to accept what he said right away.

He glanced over at Kakashi, who had a sad gleam in his visible eye, and the silver haired man gave a subtle nod. He would help expose Naruto to the mentality of one cannot be kind on the battlefield.

"I expect a detailed report from all of you; now, everyone is dismissed," Hiruzen said and everyone left; leaving him alone with his thoughts.

His eyes found the picture of his later successor and he felt a pang of guilt in his chest, _'I'm sorry Minato-kun...but this is for the greater good,'_ Hiruzen thought as he hoped the man would forgive him in the afterlife.

* * *

Akito was bored; no! He was beyond bored! If there was an award for being the most bored person on the planet than he wasn't just a contender; he won several times over.

The foul mouthed teen was currently laying on a hospital bed; his upper body wrapped in a solid cast, his face wrapped in bandages and a eye patch cover one of his eyes. One of his legs were in a cast while the other one was free.

Normally, like he did every time he was in the hospital, he would try to escape but he didn't even bother this time. There was simply no way he could possibly pull off a full body cast nor get far enough away from the hospital. Don't even get him started by the retrieval teams that the hospital had ready to go.

It seems that he wasn't the only ninja that hated being in the hospital.

Akito groaned loudly, kicking his only good leg around to emphasize his groan, "I'm soooo boorreeedd!"

There was nothing to do! He couldn't move and he could only spend so much time enjoying the morphine! He's been staring at the white ceiling for what seemed like forever and a half and that had gotten boring after the first hour!

"I know your bored Akito; I heard you the first ten times," Suzuki said from across the room. She looked much less like a mummy than Akito; bandaged were wrapped around her head and her right arm was in a cast that was in a sling. Her leg was propped up at an angle while the other one laid bare.

"Well your gonna hear it again; I. AM. F-ING. BORED!" He yelled as he kicked widely, shaking the bed and overall making a ruckus.

Suzuki simply sighed as she turned back to her book, doing her best to ignoring the screaming and fidgeting preteen. Her book was about the Yellow Flash, a person who she once, like every girl in Konoha, had a crush on. Now, however, she simply respected the man immensely and was reading about his many achievements.

The book had been a get-well present from her friend; one of the many get-well gifts she had gotten by her many friends, colleagues, and those wishing to date her. Her side of the room was teeming with flowers, chocolates, and stuffed animals.

However, as Suzuki noticed, Akito's side was next to bare. The only get well-gifts he had received was a book titled, 'The tale of a Gusty ninja,' Naruto had given him, apparently it was his favorite book, and a stuffed bear from some unknown girl.

As you might imagine, Suzuki was greatly interested in the identity of this girl.

She flipped the page before quietly, yet loud enough that Akito could clearly hear, "Maybe you should get that girl to entertain you?" she said with a sly smile, causing Akito to blush before shouting obscenities.

"Your still going on about that?! She's a friend! She helped me out when I was younger and we stayed in touch!" Akito said loudly, a faint blush still hanging around the bridge of his nose.

Suzuki sent him a sweet smile, "Oh...how often do you too...keep-in-touch," she said, the air quotes could practically be felt in her sentence. Suzuki laughed once Akito began sputtering again; it was rather amusing seeing the foul mouth teen get so worked up over his obvious crush.

"Your are so lucky that I'm tied down," Akito yelled, his threat obvious in his tone, but it did not have the intended effect.

Suzuki giggled peversly, "I bet your use to being tied down," she said before sending him a saucy wink. Once again Akito flushed and stammered curses; causing Suzuki to smile fondly.

While it may seem odd that Suzuki was teasing a preteen about sex but it was only because she had no idea how else to get a reaction out of him other than piss and vinegar. She knew that there was more to the boy but she didn't know how to bring it out.

When Akito finally settled down, though he still muttered curses, Suzuki continued, "all joking aside...who is she?" she asked, sincerity in her tone. Akito looked over at her, debating if he really wanted to tell her after being teased but finally he relented.

"I got into a scrape a few years back and she patched me up; her names Hanaka. She works as a clerk in the market district, I don't know the name of the place, " Suzuki could easily tell that was a lie, "We ain't friends but I see her every once in awhile," he finished with a failed shrug. Unaware he had contradicted himself.

Suzuki nodded, "And does she know about your crush on her," she asked, her teasing tone gone. Akito shook his head and Suzuki bit her lip in thought.

"Akito...you should tell her. You never know what might happen on a mission; our last one is a pretty good example of that," she said as she gestured to the both of them, "you don't want to go out with any regrets or loose ends," Suzuki advised in a serious tone.

The life of the shinobi was a hectic one and they never knew when they were going to be shipped out on a mission or if they were going to come back from said mission. Hell, they might be going to war after the stunt those Iwa nin had pulled.

Akito bit his tongue as a sad look passed over his face, "I know that crap...but...I don't think someone like me would be a good match up for someone like her. At best she sees me as some brother or something," Akito said dismissively.

Suzuki rose an eyebrow, "Someone like you," she asked, trying to push Akito to open up about himself. This was her first real chance to see the deeper workings of the being known as Akito.

Akito sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes for additional effect, "You know, a smart ass, jerk, potty mouth...killer," Akito started in a loud sarcastic tone but the last one was just above a whisper.

However, Suzuki heard it and let out a soft sigh. It seems Akito was a lot less secure with killing than she had originally thought. Looking at the child she berated herself for her stupidity.

She knew he had killed before, it was in his file, but how could she think that he wasn't affected by it? Who could he talk to? A therapist? The day she saw Akito sitting in a therapist office was the day she walked though the market district wearing nothing but an apron!

There was a brief silence before the sound of jingling metal and a sharp intake of breath could be heard. Akito looked at his sensei in confusion as she lifted her leg out of its sling and hobbled over to the chair next to him.

"Tell me about it," she said; she dabbled in psychology, though she wasn't a certified therapist, but she could help Akito deal with some of the messier feelings he must be having. As much of a tough face as he put up; deep down Akito must feel some level of insecurity based on his actions.

His foul mouth? Classic keeping people at arms distance technique. His cocky nature? A false identity to hide his insecurities. Akito was a walking example of a child with a bad past but was too afraid to face it.

Akito gave her a ridiculous look, but before he could even say anything, Suzuki continued.

"Akito...you don't know this but I consider my team family; you, Lavi, Hana and even Naruto. I didn't have much of a family when I was a kid and I don't plan on having kids any time soon, so I kinda think of you four as my children. I know that probably sounds weird to you but know this," she grabbed Akito's hand and gave it a tight squeeze, "you four can come to me about anything and everything. I won't judge you nor will I mock you and I'll do everything in my power to help. I promise you that," Suzuki said in a fierce tone.

Akito stared at Suzuki as if she had grown a second head; a maelstrom of emotions whirling inside of him. Disbelief, shock, joy, suspicion, happiness, denial, and many more.

He floundered for a moment, completely taken off guard and couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say? He's spent his entire life pushing everyone away and earning the scorn of those around him. He spent his entire life alone with the help of a few strangers and now all of a sudden this woman says she sees him as her kid?

What the heck did he say to that?!

"Uhhh," came his intelligent reply but Suzuki smiled lightly at him, "don't worry, I know thats a lot to take in," she said and he nodded dumbly.

Instead of moving back to her bed, Suzuki grabbed Naruto's get well gift and flipped it open to the first page, "Since you can't read it because of your arms and eye, I'll do it for you," she said with a soft smile, "who knows, we might get a few training ideas from it once when get out of here," she said.

Akito paused for a moment, thinking that no one had ever read to him before, but a small smile tugged at his lips, "Fine jugs; if you insist," he said; causing Suzuki to scowl but before she could say anything, a voice interrupted her.

"I'm afraid...training won't be an option,"

* * *

Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha, his hands tucked into his pockets, deep in thought. He had just dropped off Kakashi-nii at the hospital with an entourage of his clones.

Now that he knew that his nii-san was the student of the fourth Hokage; he understood why the Iwa nin had attacked them. He didn't think he could stop himself if he saw someone that had learned under the one that hurt his precious people.

So, ever weary of assassins, Naruto gave Kakashi a full escort while he was in his injured state. He would have stayed but Naruto hated hospitals and his nii-san insisted that he was fine.

He was currently thinking about a number of things. The relationship between Iwa and Konoha. His relationship with Kakashi. What was his weird ability and a few other things.

He was still disappointed, and slightly angry, with jiji for saying he shouldn't save someone when he could. He understood ninjas had to kill but surely they didn't have to kill everyone they fought? Surely there was room for mercy in this bloodthirsty world that they lived in!

Naruto didn't regret saving Kurotsuchi. She was now his friend and he's stick by her regardless of what the world said; just like how he would with every one of his friends!

He was also thinking about his relationship with his nii-san. With the revelation that Kakashi had been a student of the fourth had been mind blowing for Naruto. At first, he had been convinced that Kakashi was the coolest ninja ever and things of that nature.

However, the more time he had to think, the more his mind turned to darker things. Kakashi Hatake was the student of the man that sealed the kyuubi inside of him. What did that mean?

Was Kakashi just pretending to be his brother to keep an eye on the beast that killed his sensei?

Naruto knew he should trust his big brother but whispers of doubt entered his mind no matter how he tried to ignore them. It was simply too big of a possibility to ignore.

Naruto was broken out of his musings when he heard a familiar voice, "If you keep looking that serious then your going to get all wrinkly years to early!"

Naruto whipped around and saw Anko smiling at him; she was wearing her chunin vest, though it was unzipped and revealed a dangerous amount of cleavage, and her face had streaks of dirt and grease on it. Naruto figured she had just returned from the mission she had been on while they were gone.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto called out as he all but jumped at his sister figure.

"Naru-chan!" Anko yelled with glee as she spun Naruto in the air; it was then when she noticed Naruto's mask. She hadn't noticed it before because she only saw Naruto's back but she would know Naruto's thinking pace anywhere.

_'Guh! I thought I only had to worry about Gai, guess Kakashi's trying to get Naruto to mimic him as well,'_ she thought with a small sigh. She absent mindilly imagined Naruto wearing fishnets but quickly tossed the idea out of her head.

Naruto was going to be a looker when he got older; him walking around in fishnets wasn't going to help anybody other than the fangirls.

Anko set Naruto on the ground, "So, how was your mission," Naruto asked but it was not Anko that answered.

"It went rather well though Anko-chan was worrying about you the entire time," said a woman's voice behind Anko. The woman was Kurenai Yuhi, a chunin and someone that rivaled Anko and Suzuki for the most beautiful lady in Konoha.

Unexpectedly, a flash of sadness crossed over Naruto's eyes, but before either women could comment on it, Naruto said, "Hey Kurenai!" he greeted in his typical happy tone. He had met Kurenai not too long after he met Anko. Though, it had only been a handful of times.

Naruto thought the woman was nice; especially since she was already Anko's friend before he was.

Naruto looked at the two, "Where are you two going?" he asked, every time the two met up they typically did something fun. It was Anko that answered him this time, "We're going to the bath house," she said and got a nod from Kurenai.

"I haven't had a proper bath in at least three days," Kurenai muttered, suddenly becoming that much more aware of the grease and dirt that covered her.

Naruto nodded but before he could say that he'll see them later and go off to think about his thoughts, Anko suddenly picked him up and threw him on her shoulders, "How about you come with us Naru-chan! I need someone to wash my back," she said with a giggle.

Neither one noticed Kurenai's twitching eyebrow, having knowing about Naruto's connections to the bathhouse.

* * *

"Ahh~now this is more like it," Anko said as she slipped into the steaming water; joining Kurenai who looked just as happy as she did. Naruto was sitting in her lap, if he wasn't then his head would dip below the water, and he was happily blowing bubbles.

Anko looked down at the boy in her lap, "So Naru-chan...how did your first C-rank go?" She asked. She and Kurenai had been gone for the past five days so they had no idea the state of team thirteen.

"It was bumped up to an A-rank since we fought a bunch of Iwa ninja. Suzuki, Akito and Kakashi-nii are all in the hospital while Lavi's with his clan," he informed in a causal tone before he resumed blowing bubbles.

There was a few seconds of pure silence as the two women processed what Naruto had said. It was Anko who collected herself first, "Woah, woah woah; back up! A-rank? Iwa ninja? Hospital?! What the hell happened?!" Anko demanded.

"Umm, when we were escorting Mazaki we ran into a bunch of Iwa ninja. They wanted to kill Kakashi-nii since he's the fourths student and we fought...," he jerked when he remembered something, "Oh! I fought off a whole genin team by myself!" Naruto said as he turned around.

"I repeat; woah, woah, woah, what?! A whole genin team?!" Anko yelled, the fact that Naruto had been in life threatening danger and Kakashi being in the hospital not fully registering.

Naruto sighed before he launched into his tale; explaining the when, where, how, why and who. He left out his friendship with Kurotsuchi again; his talk with the Hokage made him understand that was a lot of bad blood between the two villages and he now knew he should keep it a secret.

Anko and Kurenai both listened; giving Naruto their undivided attention, they knew something had happened between Iwa and Konoha but they had no idea that Naruto was involved in it. When Naruto finished his tale, there was a heavy silence.

_'So, Naruto and the gang managed to take out a total genin team and two jonin'_ Anko thought as she bit her lip. Iwa had gone to war over less and Konoha might be the one that declared war since the attack had been unprovoked.

However, Naruto was blissfully unaware of their thoughts because he had resumed blowing bubbles but that stopped when he remembered another detail he had forgotten. He forgot to show Anko his cool his new ability!

He turned around again, his palm ready to show his ability, but before he spoke his eyes caught the sight of something weird. On the left side of the nape of his nee-chans neck, a thick black mark could bee seen, a harsh contrast to her creamy white skin.

_'Whats that?'_ Naruto wondered as he stood up on his nee-chan's legs. At first Anko was confused but she quickly realized what Naruto had spotted. She tensed up but made no attempt to move; her eyes watching Naruto as he quickly recognized what the mark was.

Naruto was confused; it was a seal. Did that mean Anko was a jinchuuriki like him? He could only think of one reason for Anko to have a seal on her other than training purposes and it most certainly didn't look like a resistance seal.

The seal was outrageously complicated yet overwhelmingly simple. What little Naruto could make out; the seal acted as an amplifier for chakra yet at the same time it had characteristics of a storage seal and a filter...no, it wasn't a filter. It was the exact opposite; the seal spread something but he didn't know what.

Then there was a completely different seal that surrounded it. Naruto couldn't tell what it did but he recognized it as a barrier seal, a level seven seal.

"Nee-chan wha-" Naruto was cut off by Anko speaking as she covered the mark with her hand.

"It was a farewell gift from my _sensei_," Anko spat the word out with venom. Her eyes darkening with rage and anger as she thought of the man that she had once looked up to.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion; her sensei? Why would he put a mark like that on her and why did she sound so angry?

Anko saw that Naruto was confused and wanted an answer but she hesitated to give one. She didn't know how Naruto would react to learning about her past. She didn't think it would affect how he viewed her but after years of discrimination; she was hesitant about revealing her past.

She wouldn't have answered him had it not been for a nod from Kurenai. She would have just laughed it off and changed the subject had it not been encouragement for her best friend.

So...she told him. She told him everything; how she had been orphaned in the third war, how Orochimaru had taken her under his wing, how she idolized him, how he lied to her about a training trip and lastly how he branded her with his curse mark and leaving her like trash.

She didn't know how long the story took to tell but her throat was dry when she finished. Now she waited for Naruto's reaction along with Kurenai.

They got it a moment later and it hadn't been the one they had been expecting. It was an emotion neither Anko nor Kurenai had ever seen Naruto demonstrate.

Pure unadulterated, unbridled, fury and rage.

Naruto's body trembled with rage as killing intent so potent that if civilians had been present they would have surely fainted. Blood leaked in between Naruto's fingers as he clenched them in tight fists. Anko and Kurenai watched Naruto speechless; not sure what to do. Neither had ever seen Naruto even angry before; much less this furious.

"I won't forgive him..." Naruto said softly in a fierce whisper before looking up, revealing rage filled eyes, "I will _never_ forgive him! I promise you nee-chan; I'm gonna erase that mark and I'm going to kick Orochimaru's ass!" He vowed; his eyes glowing with conviction and resolve.

Shock consumed Anko as she could only stare at the boy; her face expressing her emotion. However, ever so slowly, her shock began to fade only to be replaced with a loving expression and a smile.

So this was Naruto's reaction when he found out one of his precious people had been wronged. Anko felt her love for the boy surge as he stared at her with unwavering eyes. He would do it, of that she had no doubt; even when she had been told it was impossible to remove the curse mark.

If anyone in the world could do it; it was Uzumaki Naruto.

Anko, never the one for mushy atmospheres, quickly grinned mincingly, "Oh? So your cute little butt is going to beat one of the Sannin?" Anko asked before her hand snaked up and gave said cute butt a pinch.

The tense and mushy atmosphere vanished in an instant when Naruto's girlish yelp could be heard along with Anko's evil cackling.

"Oh my~! Your butt is sooo pinch-able~!" Anko sang as she chased the fleeing boy.

"N-n-n-nee-chan!" Naruto yelled as he swam away, completely forgetting that he could walk on water.

Kurenai just laughed at the scene, and blatant sexual harassment, as she calmly drank her tea. Enjoying the sight of a loving family.

* * *

Onoki's cup shattered in his hand as his son gave the report on the mission, "We lost three genin?!" he bit out as anger shook his small form, "and Rakan along with Airu?!" He shouted the question and got a stiff nod from is son.

The mission had been disastrous! Three genin? Two jonin?! One with a kekkei genkai that he desperately wanted to be passed on?!

He ground his teeth and resisted the urge to Dust Release everything insight. He couldn't do that, now, there were too many problems that needed to be solved and too many questions that needed to be answered.

"Why in the sage's name did you attack them? Did it not occur to you that this could mean war?!" he demanded.

"Tsuchikage-sama; from what I gathered, Rakan and Airu's judgement was clouded by the presence of Hatake Kakashi," Kitsuchi informed, wincing at the enraged shout that his father let out.

"Of course they would toss away judgment when that bloody copycat was there!" he muttered. He would much rather have his ninja alive than have Kakashi dead.

Onoki rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, a S-rank headache forming, and let out a sigh before he said, "Continue with your report," he muttered.

"That concludes what I have seen; I give the floor to Kurotsuchi," Kitsuchi said before stepping back and his daughter stepped forward.

She began her report; describing Naruto, surprising everyone with his age and ability, then went into detail about their fight and then old about the events in the cave. She left out their friendship, knowing the reaction she would have gotten.

Onoki listened, absorbing every detail and didn't say a thing until she had finished, "So...you fought against a child prodigy, who's younger than you yet managed to fight the three of you, then you were rescued by said boy in a way unknown, then you were carried," He ignored her indignant shout, "because whatever he did broke your leg and the two of you temporarily teamed up before going your separate ways..." he trailed off

"Am I missing anything?" he finished

Kurotsuchi, paused for a moment; this was her last real chance to tell about her friendship with Naruto. If it slipped out at a later date then there would be hell to pay but if she did it now then it would be fine.

Plus, it wasn't like she owed him anything. His team killed five of them; five of her comrades were dead!

However, as hard as she tried she couldn't just pretend that she hadn't been a little happy when Naruto had jumped around in joy when she said she would be his friend. How he was one of the very few friends that she had ever made and how he did so much for her.

But he was also the cause for her comrades to die. If he hadn't separated them then they would have known they were in a bad spot and could have jumped in.

So, Kurotsuchi didn't really know how she felt about Naruto at the moment. Was he still her friend or was he the bastard that indirectly got her comrades killed? She didn't know and wouldn't know until she saw him again.

Onoki took her silence as a no and began to think; a Konoha ninja had saved his granddaughter... He didn't know how to feel about that. While he was most certainly glad that the child had saved his kin but at the same time it was a Konoha ninja. After a few seconds of thought; he allowed himself to feel grateful.

"What was his name?" Onoki asked suddenly, wanting to know the name of the child that saved his granddaughter and the name of a future formidable ninja. Even if he was a Konoha-nin; Onoki respected strength. This boy, whoever he was, was going to be a name worth remembering. His gut was telling him that.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Kurotsuchi answered and earned a raised eyebrow from her kage.

_'An Uzumaki, huh?'_ Onoki thought as he stroked his beard. It had been a few years since he heard that name; a name that was once so feared that he gathered three of the great ninja nations to destroy that name.

He was not surprised that he was hearing that name again; if anything he was surprised that it had been so long since he heard that name. He knew that there had been a few survivors of that slaughter and he knew that that at least a few Uzumaki would have went to Konoha, their sister village.

If he remembered correctly, there had been a Uzumaki that had been active until the kyuubi attack though he did not remember the name. Perhaps this was her son? He was old enough.

Regardless; this only proved that this Naruto Uzumaki was going to be a formidable ninja in the future. There had never been a weak Uzumaki.

The rest of the genin finished off their reports and he dismissed them until only he and his son were left in the room.

"What will you do," Kitsuchi asked, a grave expression that matched his tone. He was answered by a lengthy silence from his father.

Onoki thought long and hard about Iwa's next move would be.

Did they declare war?

He knew Konoha wasn't as strong as it let on, though he had no idea how strong they really were, there was simply no way for it to be considering their losses. They lost several S ranked shinobi and suffered a biju attack. Their ally Suna was going through an economic depression so they wouldn't be much help...

Iwa wasn't anywhere near their full strength; they had lost many ninja in the third war and the Yellow Flash took out nearly a third himself. If Iwa went to war alone it most certainly would end them.

However, if Kumo joined them then that might be a different story. Kumo never disarmed after the third war and they never suffered a crippling loss...

Kiri wouldn't be a factor. They were going through a civil war that wouldn't be ending any time soon.

Onoki stoked his beard but he did not answer; the odds were in their favor. There was a chance that he could finally end Konoha; yet, he said nothing.

Why? Why did a man that lived his whole life attempting to gain the upper hand on the village hidden in the leaves hesitate? Why did a man that detested Konoha with the very fiber of his soul pause?

He wasn't sure if he wanted to live through another war.

He was old and tired. He's experienced war three times already and he didn't think he had it in him for a fourth. He was so sick of seeing peoples lives cut so very short; tired of seeing corpses pile up and families crying over their losses.

He was so sick of war.

However, as the Tsuchikage, he had a duty to answer; to respond to their losses and to the families that would undoubtedly want revenge. He could not let their cries go unanswered for he understood their pleas; Konoha had to pay for killing their ninja regardless of who started the fight.

Minutes went by and only deafening silence could be heard; but it was broken by the Tsuchikage.

"The chunin exams are being held in Suna after Kumo, correct?" he asked and got a confused nod from his son. Onoki knew already knew that Konoha would be sending a team after the Hyuga blunder.

The age old Tsuchikage leaned back in his chair, "We won't declare war...We'll let the chunin exams server their true purpose,"

* * *

Hiruzen's office was silent, surprising for the number of people that we're in it, but that silence was soon broken by the war hawk.

"This is a clear act of aggression! We cannot let this slide! We must take action against those that wish to harm our home," Danzo spoke loudly with a solid thump of his cane. There were mutters of agreement, more than Hiruzen would have liked.

Hiruzen memorized the faces of the agreeres before he responded, "Are you a fool Danzo? We are far to weak to wage war; our feet are just now getting back under us! Do you really wish to be crippled again; perhaps even destroyed?" he said in a loud tone and pinned a glare at his once friend.

He already knew that it would be Danzo leading the war party.

Danzo's only eye narrowed, "Do you really have so little confidence in your village?" he asked and was hit by a blast of killing intent.

"I have every confidence in my village; however, I do not wish to see it destroyed. Iwa maybe weak but their ally Kumo is still strong considering that they never disarmed after the third war. We, on the other hand, are still weakened and our ally Suna is going through an economic depression. They might not even help us in favor of joining the seemingly stronger side," Hiruzen said, his eyes flat and calm, "Let us not forget that they are in possession of four jinchuuriki; a vast difference from our one. Not only that but theirs consist of war veterans and ours is a child,"he continued.

Danzo seemed to consider this before he spoke, "Then let us give Kumo a bloodline or two as an incentive to become our ally opposed to Iwa's. Perhaps one from the minor clans...no, they wouldn't accept that...Perhaps one of the Hyuga, or an Uchiha...?" He offered with some thought. While he was opposed to giving an enemy any form of strength, it would be a minimum of four years before Kumo could even think about using the bloodlines they gave them in battle.

That meant they had four years to quickly gather their strength after Iwa was destroyed, and turn their eyes on Kumo and reclaim their bloodlines with interest. They would be able to do it too; if Kumo and Konoha worked conjointly, then it would offer a few chances to indirectly weaken them and plant metaphorical time bombs.

His offer was shot down by the combined killing intent of the Uchiha and Hyuga clan heads. However, Hiruzen said nothing for he was seeing Danzo's plan. He considered it for a long moment but tossed it out of his head. Such a thing was not something Konoha did; they would not sacrifice their comrades nor their children to gain a upper hand.

"No. We will do no such thing," Hiruzen said with the sense of finality before standing up, "we will not declare war. Such a thing would ruin us at this time; regardless if Kumo or Suna participate. We may bring Iwa down but they will surely take us down with them. We have to much to loose and to little to gain by waging a war," Hiruzen said in a commanding tone, mummers of agreement followed at the end of his words.

However, it was Fagaku that brought up an important matter, "We may have no choice in the matter. Iwa has declared war for much less; I believe we should take necessary precautions and arm ourselves accordingly in case of war," he said in a grave tone.

Shikau Nara nodded in agreement, "I agree, however, if we were to arm ourselves now it could provoke Iwa or Kumo into declaring war," he said in a gruff tone.

Hiruzen nodded, "We should open up negotiatio-" he was cut off by a loud stamp of a cane.

"We have been attacked; our enemies have clearly acted in aggression! We should not ask to parlay with them; doing so will admit that we are too weak for a war!" Danzo nearly shouted, silencing the room.

There was a tense silence that hung in the air along with massive amounts of killing intent between Danzo and Hiruzen. Their killing intent was potent enough that when his secretary entered the room, she nearly fainted.

"I-I-I...H-Hokage-s-sama, I h-have a message from the K-Kazekage," she stammered out as she bowed and held out a letter. Hiruzen took it and sliced the top open with the help of sharpened wind chakra.

There was silence as Hiruzen quickly read the letter before it was broken by Tsume, the head of the Inzunka clan, "Whats it say?" she asked.

Hiruzen stroked his beard, "Iwa has requested permission to send twenty-five genin teams, the maximum allowed, to participate in their chunin exam," he said in a calm tone but his mind was racing.

Sending the maximum number of genin teams was only done when the chunin exams were being used for their true purpose; a substitute for war. Did this mean that Iwa wasn't going to declare war? Was Iwa really going to use the chunin exams instead? Or was this simply a feint by Onoki?

Hiruzen closed his eyes and used every ounce of knowledge and every experience he had with the small man; trying decide what Onoki's true intentions were.

Slowly, a small grin made it's way to his lips. So this was the answer that Onoki had come up with. He could tell this was genuine because he remembered how broken the small man had looked when he signed the treaty at the end of the third war. How absolutely sick and miserable; he wouldn't be so eager to participate in another war after what Minato did.

_'So this is your answer and solution,'_ Hiruzen thought, allowing is respect for the Tsuchikage to grow a little.

There was still silence in his office; everyone understanding the implication of what Iwa had done.

"How do respond to such a challenge Hokage-sama," Hiashi asked, his clam demeanor never changing even such a tense atmosphere.

Hiruzen took a deep breath, "We let the next generation answer this call. Notify all jonin sensei's; twenty-five of them will be attending Suna's chunin exams and they will train their genin accordingly. I'll handpick which teams will go in the last month," he said and there was a mutter of approval, even Danzo nodded in acceptance.

_'Oh no...'_ Hiruzen thought as he suddenly remembered something so very important. Cold dread gripped his heart as he remembered his bet with the old war hawk.

He bit his tongue; perhaps he should cancel his bet with Danzo? He couldn't risk Naruto in this mess. If Naruto was killed in this then Konoha would be crippled permanently; they would lose their only jinchuuriki and who knows when a shinobi strong enough to reseal the strongest of the biju would appear?

His eyes met Danzo's and he could see a glamor of greed in the mans eye. No; Danzo wouldn't let him cancel the bet. He could gain far too much and had little to loose. Naruto was going to have to participate in the chunin exams and managed to come out on top with a sea of enemies trying to drag him down.

He was going order Kakashi to train Naruto into the ground. Naruto must pass this exam, he must become a chunin! If it came down to it; he himself would tutor the boy!

With flourish, Hiruzen wrote on a slip of paper and handed it to his secretary, "This is a letter requesting to send twenty-five genin teams as well as sending out jinchuuriki," Hiruzen said in a grave tone.

As the slip of paper left his hands he abandoned all hopes of forgiveness from his successor.

* * *

Akito laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He was thinking about what he had been told that evening like a broken record; the same sentence over and over and over again.

_'You have bone fragments circulating inside your spinal cord as well as sever nerve damage; I'm sorry but there's no hope for recovery. Not even Tusnade of the Sannin could heal this,'_

A single tear escaped from Akito's eye as the words sunk in; his days as a shinobi were over.

**MUAHAHAHAH! I bet none of you saw this coming, except for those that did. I had this planned for awhile and kinda hinted at it; Lavi's third species that was never identified being the main hint.  
**

**So, yes, Lavi's alive but Akito's a cripple. Do what you will with that knowledge.**

**Next chapter is going to be a training montage focusing on Naruto and the chapter after that with start the chunin exams!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the ninth chapter!**

**A big thank you to those that offered to beta the story! I now have two new beta's; Zeke Jones and kmackyd!  
**

**Another thing; Naruto will be keeping the mask according to the poll. **

**Now, on with the story!**

Five months until the chunin exams

Naruto's muscles screamed in agony but he ignored their pleas. His body pumped out sweat like a broken faucet but he paid not attention to the liquid that dripped from his body with every movement.

"Nine hundred'n ninety-eight, nine hundred'n ninety-nine...," Naruto muttered, swinging the hundred pound training tanto in the center kata, sweat showering off of him. The training tanto was a solid black because it was lead with a weight seal placed on it.

"Yosh, Naruto-kun! I believe in you; you can do it!" Gai yelled as fire roared in his eyes and it the air around him, "JUST ONE MORE NARUTO-KUN!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Naruto grunted as he slowly raised his tanto, never wanting to be the one that disappointed Gai, he forced his body to obey his commands and managed to raise his tanto over his head. He paused for a moment, gathering his breath and lowered the tanto to it's center position.

"One thousand!" he yelled out before dropping the tanto, causing the lead sword to indent into the soft ground, and a second later Naruto joined it by falling backwards.

He did his best to ignore the burning sensation in his arms in favor of focusing on the blue sky that hung overhead. The only thing that he could hear was his harsh and ragged breath along with his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Naruto admired the view for a moment, a moment of serenity, but it was soon broken by Gai blocking his view of the sky with his face that wore a giant smile.

"Most excellent Naruto-kun! Your flames of youth are shinning most brightly this afternoon!" Gai commended, his teeth sparkling.

Naruto grinned up at his sensei before rolling over and forcing himself to stand up. He was tired but he wasn't going to quit! He still had half a day worth of training to do.

Gai saw this and his smile only got bigger. Naruto had thrown himself into his training since his first A-ranked mission. He didn't even need the order to train harder for the exams because he already had plenty of motivation and time.

Naruto hadn't gone on another mission since the C-rank turned A. It had been an eye opening experience for him and his first real peek at the shinobi world. His friends nearly died; they had been out numbered and out powered and it had only been sheer luck that they managed to escape with their lives.

So, Naruto threw himself into becoming stronger; so next time everything went to hell, he would be strong enough to protect his friends and make sure they were okay. He wouldn't let another one of his precious people get hurt.

He also had his promise to Anko-nee to think about. He meant what he said; he was going to rip that snake apart for having the audacity to_ ever_ harm his sister figure in such a way. He was going to make that prick beg for mercy before he...

Naruto let the thought slip away. Before he what...? Before he killed him; but he had never wanted to hurt anyone before...was it because he now had precious people? Was it because the way of the shinobi was already starting to corrupt his pure hearted nature?

Naruto was snapped out of his musings by Gai acting his typical flamboyant self, "Yosh! Now that we've completed our physical training for the day; we shall now practice your most youthful ability!" he said as he threw a fist into the air, which Naruto copied.

He grinned to himself; this was his favorite part of training every day. He was completely fascinated by his ability and was eager to master it. He was so excited that he completely forgot about his burning muscles and lined himself up with the nearest tree.

Naruto glared at the thick trunk of the tree, today would be the day! Today would be the day that he made progress with his kekkei genkai! Naruto took a deep and calming breath; clearing his mind of any thoughts other than controlling the chakra arms.

Seconds went by before a gentle breeze ruffled Naruto's hair; signaling go. Naruto thrusted out his hand, summoning the ligament of pure chakra to appear and it heeded his call.

A sapphire blue arm escaped from Naruto's palm and raced towards the tree; the hand open and ready to grab what it's creator desired. It gripped the tree a second later, causing Naruto to think that he had finally did it.

However, the tree then exploded in a shower of splinters before toppling over with a loud crash.

Naruto groaned and let the chakra arm dissipate, "I broke the tree again..." he muttered in disappointment. He had been so sure he was going to do it this time!

Naruto was training to control the strength of the chakra hand...and failing miserably. He was attempting to grab a tree without breaking it, then he would raise the tree out of the earth while not snapping the great oak like it was a tooth pick.

Gai observed that the chakra arm possessed great strength, and they were going to tame it. They had tried using rocks, which were harder than a tree, but...they had run out of rocks sizable enough to practice on.

Gai had Naruto's kekkei genkai training all planned out. Once they mastered its considerable strength, they would then work on fine tuning it; stuff like catching eggs and washing dishes.

After that they would attempt to see if Naruto could make other things out of his chakra. They knew Naruto could make an arm of chakra but could he make a leg? A head? A whole body?

If he could then the sheer battle potential for Naruto's ability was astounding. Gai couldn't even think of all the possible ways for it to be used!

Naruto had already mastered a few things. He could make the chakra arm as wide, skinny, big, or small as he wanted as well as making it as long as he wanted. However, that was limited a bit; when Naruto lost sight of it, the chakra arm lost its tangibility.

From what they could tell; it required Naruto to focus on the shape and solidity for the chakra to be of any use, otherwise, it would dissipate. Normally, that would be burden on a normal person; you can't focus solely on one thing during a fight, but that fact was proved false with Naruto.

It was because of his Uzumaki brain. Their brain was fundamentally different than everyone else's. They could completely focus on a hundred different things; they could give a hundred things their undivided attention.

No one was sure why the brain of an Uzumaki was so different but it was commonly believed that it was what made them so good at fuinjutsu. If you could do a hundred different things just as well if you focused solely on them; imagine what they could do if they focused on one thing?

Gai was broken out of his musings when a blue arm once again emerged from Naruto's palm; however, he did not focus on the mass of chakra in favor of examining Naruto.

The boy had been relentless in the past month; he trained every single day until he collapsed. Gai was beginning to worry about the boys health even though he showed no signs of becoming ill.

He showed no signs of developing a fever nor exhaustion of being over worked. Every single day he was in the clearing, just as ambitious as ever and training with the same enthusiasm with whoever he was training with that day.

Though, perhaps it was to be expected given the fact that Naruto lost a teammate and a friend; even if he was reluctant to call him such.

Gai was so focused on Naruto that he almost missed it when the tree didn't explode on contact. He watched in amazement as the chakra arm gripped the tree, Naruto being ever so careful not to destroy it, before the arm began to tug upwards.

Gai heard the groan of the roots as they did everything they could to be hidden beneath the earth but failing. Inch by inch, the tree rose from the earth and just when Gai thought that Naruto might have finally done it; the tree exploded.

"GOD FUC-"

"Naruto-kun! You shouldn't use such unyouthful words!" Gai interrupted before Naruto could express his anger, "And you have nothing to be angry about! It was a magnificent try!" he said as he offered the boy an encouraging thumps up.

It managed to cool the boy, though he still muttered obscenities underneath his breath, for he got back in his stance and got ready for another try.

_'This time...I'll definitely do it this time!'_

* * *

Four months until the chunin exams

Asuma let out a cloud of smoke as he walked down the street. While he always enjoyed smoking, a trait that he shared with his father, he wasn't currently doing it to pass time. No, he was smoking because of nerves.

He had just been ordered to train Naruto Uzumaki's wind affinity; the same child that thought he hated him because of a misunderstanding. While he normally wouldn't give a hoot if a kid didn't like him; Naruto was different.

Based on what he heard about the boy, he was incredibly likable and a glowing example of selflessness and purity...okay, that was a bit of a stretch but he did want to patch things up between them. He was friends with Kakashi and, more importantly; Naruto was the little brother of Kurenai's best friend.

Naruto could ruin any chance he had with Kurenai with a few words...

Asuma shook his head of the thought, intent on patching things up with the child and making the brat sing his praises, and entered training ground seven.

The moment his foot crossed the threshold into the training ground, his sixth sense was screaming that there was trouble and he jumped back on reflex. It was right when a handful of kunai pierced the ground that had stepped on. He waited for the onslaught to continue for seconds but when it never did, he walked up to where the kunai laid.

It was then he noticed a thread that lead to a branch; he quickly figured out the trap. The thread would snap, causing the branch to swing out and by extension it would fling the ninja tools.

Very mundane and simple but useful against unsuspecting enemies.

Asuma hummed loudly; what was this? Was there an enemy hanging about or was it a training tool? He doubted it was the first based on the lack of complexity so that left the second.

He took out his battle knives; just incase he needed them, before walking through the forest. It wasn't more than a five minute walk, distance wise, but it took much longer considering the sheer number of traps that littered the forest until the clearing.

The things were everywhere; bear traps, smoke bombs, paint bombs, kunai traps, holes with stakes at the bottom...every time he thought he was in the clear; a dozen new traps would spring!

He reached the clearing, only looking slightly worse for wear, and he found the causes of his rough trip. When he arrived in the center of the clearing, he saw two grinning faces; Ankos and Naruto's.

Asuma felt dread creep up on him, hoping Naruto hadn't said anything before he could clear up the misunderstanding between them. Screw not being able to date Kurenai; Anko would kill him!

"Hmmmm, not too shabby mister guardian! However, you made a couple mistakes on your way here! Naru-chan, what were they?" Anko asked, a smile a little too sweet on her face.

"The most glaring one was he continued to walk on the path when it was obviously littered with traps. He also chose to say on the ground rather than go to the tree tops; where there was a chance of less traps. He also seemed over confident in his ability to take what was dished out," Naruto replied instantly.

Asuma flushed ever so slightly; it was just plain embarrassing to get nitpicked by a child.

Anko nodded, "Exactly right Naru-chan, exactly right," she said and patted Naruto's head praisingly before the looked over at Asuma, "I'll be sticking around for your lesson; we wouldn't want in accidents with killing intent...would we...?" Anko said sweetly, sending a blast at Asuma.

The black haired man coughed into his hand and tactically avoided the snake mistresses eyes. His fate would be sealed the moment he did.

Naruto had told Anko about the incident that happened a few months ago; he had been able to deduce who Asuma was from the talks between Kakashi and Gai along with the talks between Anko and Kurenai. When Anko heard about it she had been furious but when Naruto managed to calm her down, she realized that Asuma wasn't the type to hate Naruto for what he contained. So, that meant it had to be an accident.

"Y-yeah,...wouldn't want that," Asuma muttered and the killing intent disappeared a

moment later as Anko walked off to a nearby tree and sat in one of the branches; a cup of tea and a stick of dango in her hand as she watched the two.

Cracking his neck, Asuma clapped his hands together, "Alrighty then; since I didn't get to introduce myself last time we met, I'm Sarutobi Asuma, jonin of Konoha and until recently I was one of the 12 ninja guardians," he said, and sent Naruto a grin, hoping that his achievements would at least slightly bump up his opinion of him.

His grin was answered by a blank glare.

_'What a tough nut to crack,'_ Asuma mused before continuing, "as you know, I'm going to be helping you train your wind affinity since I'm the only other wind user in Konoha." Well,...that wasn't entirely true; there was always Danzo but that was a problem in itself.

A spark of interest entered Naruto's eyes.

Asuma saw it and mentally smirked, "Do you know anything about elemental affinities or should I start from the beginning?" he asked and managed to get Naruto to speak.

"Fire is strong against wind but is weak against water. Wind is strong against lighting but weak against fire. Lighting is strong against earth but weak against wind. Earth is strong against water but weak against lighting and, lastly, Water is strong against fire but weak against earth," Naruto answered before saying, "I have a wind and a minor lighting affinity but I developed an affinity with fire,"

Asuma nodded praisingly, the boy had a good head on his shoulders, "Exactly right! Now, can you tell me what it means exactly to have an affinity with one element?" he asked, trying to get a more accurate point of where Naruto was at.

Naruto paused for a moment, "It makes using the jutsu you have an affinity with easier and take less chakra but the stronger affinity you have for an element, the harder it is to use jutsu that are strong against it," he said and got another nod from Asuma.

"Exactly; while it isn't impossible, it's just more difficult. You're actually lucky in that regard; since you have a natural affinity with lighting, it cancels out that effect," he said before he clapped his hands again.

"Alright, you have the basics down; now, on too the good stuff," he said, "you probably already know this but Wind is the strongest element for close to mid range fights. It's incredibly versatile and I'm going to be teaching you how to master this element,"

He picked up a leaf off the ground, "The first step is to cut this with nothing other than your chakra," he said and in an after thought, he added, "the trick is to imagine your chakra rubbing against each other, sharpening each other. The finer the line, the sharper the cut,"

He wasn't going to wait until Naruto either figured it out on his own or until he asked him for advice. He could only imagine the terrors Anko would unleash if she though he was being lax with her little brother.

Naruto nodded and with a cross of his fingers, fifty copies poofed into existence around him; surprising Asuma greatly. Kakashi had raised his limit after the last mission he went on. He was also becoming more lax with the limit as it became more apparent there wasn't any real side effects of the shadow clones.

Each clone picked up a leaf, already knowing their instructions, and began attempting to cut the leaf.

Asuma lit another cigarette as he waited for Naruto to comment about how he wasn't meeting any success.  
However, an hour later, one of Naruto's clones yelled out and presented its accomplishment. It had managed to cut nearly a fourth of the leaf.

Asuma shared a surprised look with Anko, both greatly surprised that Naruto was already meeting success. Most ninja took a few weeks to master the first step but the bulk of that was getting started.

Another hour later, Naruto dismissed his clones, wincing at the minor headache he got but it didn't stop him from picking up a leaf and holding it between his two hands and focusing.

A second later, he felt a shift in the leaf and opened up his hands to see if he had succeeded; he had! The leaf was cut directly in half! The cut was kinda jagged but that didn't matter!

Naruto let out a cheer as Asuma let out a low whistle; while he was still pissed that his father had weaponized Naruto, the boy was clearly a prodigy of the highest caliber. Hell, he might even make Itachi and Kakashi look like jokes!

"I did it, I did it, I did it, I. did. It!" Naruto chanted in a singsong voice as he paraded the split leaf around like a trophy. Asuma grinned along with Anko at the sight. He may be a ninja and a prodigy and even a jinchuuriki, but in the end he was still a child.

"Alright, alright, I'm impressed...but will you be able to handle the next step?"

* * *

Three months until the chunin exams

"I'm getting another teacher?!" Naruto exclaimed in excitement, and got a nod from Kakashi.

"Yeah; his names Hayate Gekko and he's going to help you develop your kenjutsu style. You have a great base and idea but it needs polishing and he's just the guy to do it," Kakashi said and as if summoned, Hayate entered the clearing.

The sickly man walked up, he was special jonin the same age as Kakashi but it was surprising considering how the man looked like he was a light breeze away from death. Hayate had always been sick for as long as Kakashi knew him, but he also didn't know of a better kenjutsu specialist.

The man could do things with a blade that were both beautiful and terrifying.

"Ah, hello; I'm Hayate Gekko, I'm here to help you with kenjutsu," he said, punctuating his words with a cough. Naruto looked over at Kakashi, a doubtful expression on his face, before he turned back to Hayate.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he greeted cheerfully and got a nod from Hayate.

"It's a pleasure; now, I understand that you've developed your own kenjutsu style," he started, greatly interested in the style Naruto had created. Naruto was the son of his sensei, Kushina Uzumkai, and the Uzumaki were already known for their prowess with kenjutsu.

He was positive that whatever Naruto had created would be worth seeing.

Naruto nodded and grabbed his blunted tanto, the one he trained with, and Hayate took out his own training katana. A second later they began their spar.

Hayate stuck with playing defensive but dabbled with the offensive. He wanted to test out Naruto's style on both sides of the coin and he wasn't disappointed by what he saw.

Naruto's style was very simple but outrageously effective. It stuck true to the traditional use of circular momentum but in a fast motion. What was more, there were so many ways the element of surprise could be used.

You think he was going for a right overhanded swing? No, left sided slash.

Once he mastered his kenjutsu style, only those with lightning quick reflexes or instincts would be able to deal with the deadly style.

His defense was just as solid, though, he did see some holes in it. It seemed to rely too much on an opponent thrusting but didn't have much in the way of blocking a slash.

Hayate called an end to their brief spar. He saw everything he needed to see as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the style.

"So, whatd'ya think?" Naruto asked proudly, smugness in his tone. His style was awesome; he knew, he made it himself!

Hayate coughed into his hand, disguising a small laugh, "It's very impressive. The basic idea is ingenious, however, there are a few things that need to be altered," he said and got a scowl from Naruto.

Naruto was typically open to advice; he didn't deal well when his own techniques were critiqued.

Hayate saw this and pressed forward, "Your defense was good but it's very open to slashes; that was the most glaring weakness I saw. Your offense was very good, however, once someone gets the hang of it; it becomes very predicable," he started and saw Naruto nod.

Kurotsuchi had managed to do that when she saw it only once. He would accept that.

Hayate smirked after he let out a cough, "I would recommend stationing your blade in a way that they can be deflected over head and for your offensive..." he trailed off in thought, "It needs to become more unpredictable. You could do this by adding the number of spins and eliminating the pop that is heard before you spin. Even if the enemy can't tell where your blade is coming from, they might be able to dodge because of that warning," he said before coughing up a small storm.

Naruto nodded his head softly; the advice was fair. He was already planing on adding more spins after his fight with Kurotsuchi so he knew Hayate knew what he was talking about. However, he didn't know how to make his style more unpredictable...

"Maybe I'll use shadow clones...?" he muttered to himself but he was overheard by Hayate, who paused before a grin found itself on his face.

"Did I hear you say shadow clones?"

* * *

Two months and two weeks until the chunin exams

Naruto took a deep breath as his pen glided across the surface of the paper; forming the kanji for fire. His ink glided smoothy, without any hesitation, until the kanji for fire was clearly seen on the paper; not an imperfection in sight.

Naruto examined his work; trying to find the smallest stray line or anything being slightly out of place. When he spotted nothing, he grinned. He'd gotten much better at calligraphy since he started learning fuinjutsu; something that was required for the art.

Satisfied with his work, he reached over and grabbed his newest book, 'Fuinjutsu level four: You've blown yourself up at least once so far! Don't you lie!.' And began reading.

Level four dealt with a wider variety of seals and something that Naruto was much more excited about. Level four was also the introduction for developing your own seals or tweaking preexisting ones.

He didn't think himself quite ready for that yet; so, he was dealing with the intricate weight and resistance seals. He was currently learning how they worked, what line did what, and other things that bored most people.

However, Naruto was enraptured with the book. Every single thought in his head were thinking about how great of an art fuinjutsu was and how everyone should practice it; but noooo, it didn't have enough in battle application they said.

Bah! Explosive tags were fuinjutsu and they had plenty of battle application! It really ground Naruto's gears when they brushed off the mystical art of fuinjutsu.

_'I'll show'em! Fuinjutsu has the most battle potential ever!'_ he thought as he read his book, absorbing every scrap of knowledge. He knew that it was quite the claim but could he back it up? Could he really show the world how great of an art fuinjutsu was?

He was reading about the weight seal when a thought struck him.

Ever so slowly, a sinister smile tugged at Naruto's lips.

* * *

Two months until the chunin exams

"These are the handsigns," Kakashi said before he slowly made handsigns, "Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger," he said slowly, letting Naruto memorize the handsigns.

Naruto nodded, showing that he saw them before running through a few practice runs of the handsigns, each time going a little faster until he thought he had it down. When he did, he looked up at Kakashi expectingly.

"Good, now, the technique that I'm teaching you is called Fire Release: Dragon Fire. To do this technique you take some ninja wire," he went into his bag and grabbed a spiel of ninja wire and held it up, "you wrap it around your target," Kakashi wrapped it around a nearby rock, "then you use the jutsu from at least twenty feet away,"

To demonstrate, Kakashi jumped back until he was twenty feet away and then he flew through the handsigns that he had taught Naruto. He pulled the wire taunt before he breathed fire on the wires.

The wires caught in a blazing inferno before racing towards the wire covered rock; which soon burst into flames when both sides of the wire collided. Naruto watched in awe as flames consumed the rock, making it glow red hot, and felt the heat of the flames even though he was so far away.

Seconds later, Kakashi ceased the jutsu and let he wires fall; the flames died down and revealed a rock well on its way to becoming magma. Kakashi looked over at Naruto, giving the boy a signature eye smile, "Now...you try," he said in a chipper tone.

He had recently copied this technique from Itachi; his fight against Rakan made him realize he needed a few more focused and intense fire jutsu.

Naruto could only gaze at the destruction the jutsu caused in awe before a smile found it's way onto his face, "Okay!" he said before he pulled out his own ninja wire and started his own attempt.

It took Naruto more than a few tries before he produced the desired result. The tricky parts were getting the wire around the object and making the fire catchable enough that even the metal wires caught on fire.

His dragon fire wasn't as intense as his nii-sans but it did the job. After Naruto completed the jutsu, Kakashi began to explain how to use the technique in battle.

"This jutsu is helpful in a number of ways but the best use is the way I just showed you. If you wrap an enemy shinobi in the ninja wire and pin them to the rock, they can't escape and you incinerate them," Kakashi began to explain and saw a flash of discomfort and reluctance in Naruto's eyes.

He sighed, "I know you're not comfortable with the thought of killing but you can't be afraid to. Your enemies won't hesitate to kill you and if you do then it's game over; you can't just tie them down and hope they stay down Naruto; there is no room for mercy on the battlefield," Kakashi explained but his words were met with defiance raging in Naruto's eyes.

He wouldn't accept that. He wouldn't accept that he had to kill every enemy. Why couldn't he just tie them down? If he sealed them inside a scroll, what damage could they do?

There were other options and Naruto was dedicated to taking those before taking a life.

Kakashi just sighed, he knew that Naruto wouldn't change his way of thinking until he was forced to take a life; he just hoped his words would keep him from freezing up when that time came.

"Okay, now I want you to demonstrate that wind jutsu I taught you last week. Have you made any more progress with it?" Kakashi asked, thinking that learning wind jutsu should be much easier for Naruto since he was in the process of mastering his element.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah! It's twice as strong as it was before!" he exclaimed before he began to fly through handsigns.  
'_Wind Release: Wind Bullet_!' Naruto mentally exclaimed before he sucked down a huge gulp of air, his chest expanding, before he lurched forward and roared.

A compressed bullet of air escaped his mouth, nearly as big as he was, before it raced towards the still glowing rock. When the two collided, the rock shattered into a million pieces with a loud boom.

Naruto grinned like a loon, looking almost identical to a mad bomber, before he let out a loud whoop.

"See?! I told you! I could barely break a rock before but now its, like, all gone!" Naruto shouted, glee in his tone. Kakashi just sweat dropped at his little brothers antics.

"I believe you, It's got a lot more power than last week...you've been practicing on your own?" Kakashi asked and got a nod from the mostly blonde boy. Kakashi nodded in approval, "Good," he commended.

Normally, he would be against any child training without supervision because, you know, they were playing with fire and lighting. However, Naruto was well on his way to become chunin. So, Kakashi figured he should trust Naruto to train on his own a bit.

"As a reward...how about I teach you a neater version of your favorite jutsu?"

* * *

During the same month.

"Again," Tsume commanded, her tone so commanding that one wouldn't hope to argue. Not that Hana would, she had asked her mother to train her after all.

Hana held onto her lunch as she once again forced herself to spin rapidly; however, she did not become a human drill like she did so often. No, this time she became a wheel of death that shredded her enemies!

Maybe that was exaggerating it a bit but the shredding part wasn't. Hana tore through any obstacle that her mother threw at her simply because that was how she dealt with any obstacle.

Hana threw herself forward and began to rapidly spin, her canine comrades doing the same right next to her.

Her current goal wasn't to actively destroy anything, but the exact opposite. She had the power part of the jutsu down in spades but now she was fine tuning her control of the jutsu.

Hana was doing this by racing through a series of elaborate cones, doing her best to stick the tight corners and not hit a single one of them. It was hard, ridiculously so, but she knew that the result would be well worth it.

This would also help her control her other techniques! No more would she be crippled by narrow spaces! No more would she be at a disadvantage!

Hana raced through the cones, knocking a few of them down but managing to still get a passing grade. When she came to a stop, still managing to hold onto her lunch, just barely, she heard her mother clapping.

"You did well," Tsume said, a feral grin on her lips, "You only knocked down three this time," she complimented. It was a rare thing for her since she usually stuck to sarcastic, backhanded compliments.

Hana grinned at her mom, "It was nothing," she said with a cocky smirk, earning a smile from her mom. She would allow the boasting for now; Hana had been one of the fastest to ever learn the Gatenga technique. It normally took a few weeks to get down the basics but Hana nearly mastered it in the same time.

Tsume was proud of her daughter; she was well on her way to becoming the next clan head.

The Inuzuka had an odd way of doing things when it came to the hierarchy of their clan. Normally, the metaphorical crown was passed from father, or mother, to son or daughter. However, unlike other clans, any Inuzuka could become clan head.

All that was required was to defeat the current clan head, or the alpha, in battle. If the alpha died before anyone managed to best them, the title was then passed onto the first born that the alpha had.

Take Tsume for example; she had become clan head when she was fifteen and nobody had managed to defeat her even to this day, fifteen years later.

That was another difference between the Inuzuka and the other clans. The clan head didn't have to be male nor did the clan heir have to be. That was why Hana was considered the clan heiress even though she had a younger male brother.

Tsume hadn't been referring to those facts either. Hana was well on her way to being strong enough to take over as clan head. Who knows, maybe she would make it a tradition for a fifteen year old to take over the clan.

The elder Inuzuka smirked at the thought.

"Woah...," she heard a breathless whisper of her only son, then turned around and saw him peeking out of the corner of the door.

Tsume growled, startling him, "Kiba! I told you to stay in the house!" she barked a him, causing the boy to trip over himself as he attempted to flee and fall outside. He landed with a small oomph before standing up with a tic mark on his head.

"But mom! It's no fair! Why does Hana get to learn all the cool jutsu!" a six year old Kiba demanded to know.

"Because she's older than you! And a ninja! And stop whining!" Tsume yelled but there was a teasing edge to her voice. She wasn't actually mad; she just loved giving the little boy hell. It was the easiest way to kill time and amuse herself.

"I'm not whining, _and_ I'm old enough to get my own nin-dog now _and_ become a ninja!" Kiba shot back with indignation. It wasn't fair!

Hana just laughed at the scene and earned the ire of her little brother, "What are you laughing at?!" he roared, a second tic mark joining the first. Hana's response was to laugh harder while aggressively rubbing Kiba's head.

She looked over at her mother, "Kiba might be right ma'" she said and earned a raised eyebrow, "He might be just old enough to get a pup from the next litter," she offered and earned a supporting head nod from Kiba, stars all but shining in his eyes.

Tsume lowered one eyebrow and raised the other, prompting Hana to explain her reasoning.

"Well, my teammate Naruto isn't much older than Kiba," she said before pausing for a moment and let out a small sigh, swallowing her pride, "and he's probably stronger than me," she admitted.

She honestly didn't know if she would win against Naruto. If she had full access to her nin-dogs then she'd say things would go her way but there was Naruto's ability to make limitless shadow clones, that tossed that advantage out the window.

Naruto was fast, strong, smart and a tad ruthless when it came to a fight and Hana really didn't know if she would be the one that came out on top if they fought.

Tsume's eyes went wide at the admission, ignoring Kiba's cries of BS. If she was willing to admit that, something that every Inuzuka loathed to do, then it really spoke how highly she thought of the boy.

"And how does that help Kiba's case?" Tsume pressed.

Hana paused for a moment, "uhhh...because Kiba and Naruto are the same age? Naruto's pretty mature too so, I guess what I'm trying to say is that since Naruto's mature and Kiba sometimes act like him, he might be mature enough to handle it," she said in a slow tone, trying to put her thoughts into words.

Tsume looked down at her youngest son, who was looking up at her with expecting eyes, and thought about her daughters words. She let out a small sigh when he used those puppy dog eyes of his; she never stood a chance.

"Fine, fine; if I think you're suitable to be one of their partners I'll pair you up with one in the next litter," she said with a small grin when Kiba began bouncing up and down, yelling out in joy.

* * *

During the same month.

Lavi gulped down water, temporarily forgetting the manners his mother had all but beaten in to him. He was exhausted and sweat poured for every pore. His throat felt like sand paper and he had a killer headache from dehydration.

He absentmindedly wondered if he made a mistake asking Naruto to introduce him to his taijutsu teacher.

The man was certifiably insane. There were no if or buts, the man was crazy. All he did was scream about youth and punch things; it was ridiculous!

The reason he had made the mistake was simple. He knew that Naruto's taijutsu teacher was a professional so he thought he would be the best one to help him with his own taijutsu. Lavi knew he was lacking in the field but it had been very apparent in the mission months ago.

When he had been fighting the white haired one, he might as well had been standing there and just took the blows. He hadn't been fast enough nor strong enough to put up any form of defense, much less offense.

The teenager had torn through him; the only reason he hadn't been defeated quickly was purely because of the teenager's fear of his hornets.

Then there was the red head, he flinched when he remembered his first kill. Lavi had been completely at his mercy. The red head had carved him up like dinner and he could do nothing but dodge and run.

Lavi thought he could get by with just knowing the academy style. Taijutsu was no favorite for any Aburame, who preferred to stay at a distance, so it was not highly encouraged for practice in his clan.

His clan mostly focused on developing their hives and their chakra reserves, allowing them to feed a larger hive.

After that mission, when long distance was not an option, he thought his clan was acting a bit foolish. A good shinobi trains his strengths but a great one trains his weaknesses.

And that is the story of why Lavi was currently wishing for the sweet release of death rather continuing this hell.

"Yosh Lavi-kun! You mustn't give up now! We still have another hour of sparring to go!" Gai yelled in an excited manner, a fist in the air.

"Yeah Lavi! We still have a whole 'nother hour!" Naruto exclaimed right next to the green clad man. His tone was just as excited the elder man's. Lavi was in shock; how could anyone enjoy this?

He was no slouch when it came to hard work but he had never, ever, not once in his life, thought that he would be doing something so physically demanding.

However, Lavi calmed his racing heart and took a few breaths to calm himself. He couldn't look bad in front of Naruto. Not only would that insult his pride but Naruto was one of the few that ever expressed interest in his clan.

Everyone else thought they were weird or gross and avoided them. Sure, they weren't discriminated against but they were never overly welcomed in social situations.

Naruto was different. He was completely uncaring that he shared his body with insects. In fact, he thought it was cool and was always asking questions about his clan.

It was for that reason he walked back over to rejoin the sparring session. Lavi refused to let Naruto's interest in his clan die because he was simply to cowardly to accept a challenge!

As Lavi took his new stance, for what must have been the thousandth time that day, Gai gave the teenager a thumbs up, "Most youthful Lavi-kun," was all he said before he resumed their fight.

Gai kept himself in the mid chunin area when it came to speed and strength. He wanted Lavi to get used to fighting a faster and stronger opponent but he didn't want to overwhelm the boy.

Lavi dodged a jab by sidestepping before he grabbed the back of Gai's wrist and placed his other hand on Gai's elbow and sharply turned. Gai, allowed the action and followed through.

A second later, Lavi had Gai in an arm bar; his hand placed at the elbow, ready to break it, or dislocate his shoulder. Gai was laying on the ground, unable to move from his position. After a couple of seconds, Gai tapped out and Lavi released him.

This was what his new style focused on; grappling, counters, and evading. Lavi knew he couldn't become a close range fighter so suddenly after years of being a long range one. However, he could develop a fallback in case anyone ever got close.

The style was called jujutsu; a style designed for grappling and takedowns. You could even fight an armed opponent with this style.

"Yosh! You've made excellent progress these past few months Lavi-kun! I think it's time for the next step!" Gai called out; causing Lavi to back step.

Next step? What next step? There was a level harder than this? Was that possible?!

"Now...lets see how you do against two opponents! Naruto-kun, let us fan our friend's flames of youth!" Gai commanded and got a cheer from Naruto.

"Yeah! Lets do this Lavi! I'm not gonna hold anything back!" Naruto called out; causing Gai to get an idea.

"I should hold back less as well! Doing so would only insult Lavi-kun's abilities! Yosh! I'll limit myself to low jonin level and take off my weights! How does that sound?" Gai asked a terrified looking Lavi.

The poor boy was so afraid that he couldn't speak; unfortunately for him, Gai took his silence as an affirmative. Two small earthquakes later, Gai was stretching his now free legs.

"Prepare yourself!" was all he said before he and Naruto charged.

* * *

One month until the chunin exams.

"Itachi? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he walked into his usual clearing, looking much worse for wear in recent months. It was early morning and he arrived the same time he always did but instead of seeing his nii-san for his ninjutsu and kekkei genkai training, he saw Itachi.

While he was happy to see his friend, he was puzzled.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you snuck up on me," Itachi said as he closed the book he had been reading. The words were false, however they were nearly the truth to his surprise.

Naruto had been silent as a ghost as he walked and Itachi couldn't feel his chakra signature because Naruto was now unconsciously suppressing it at all times. Itachi truly wondered what kind of training Anko was making Naruto go through for the boy to be so adept in stealth.

As Itachi closed his book, which was several times too thick for someone his age should be reading, he realized he hadn't answered Naruto's question.

"As for why I am here, I will now be tutoring you in genjutsu," he said as the book vanished with a puff of smoke. He earned a confused look from Naruto before Itachi began explaining in more detail.

"Kakashi sempai asked me to help you with the art because you are very vulnerable to it. You are still unable to use any genjutsu because of your less than adequate chakra control; still being unable to perform the leaf exercise is a good example of this," he ignored Naruto's curses about the blasted impossible exercise, before continuing.

"While being unable to use genjutsu is a weakness, you are also unable to break out of most genjutsu as well. This is a problem that must be fixed because the chunin exams are only a month away and no one knows what type of shinobi will be participating," Itachi began to explain further.

"But you're the same age as Hana!" Naruto pointed out, accepting that genjutsu was one of his weaknesses but he was still confused why Itachi was going to be his teacher, "You're a genin like me," he added for good measure.

This caused Itachi to smile slightly, "I'm actually a chunin," he said and caused Naruto's eyes to go wide. He thought about telling Naruto that he was ANBU just to shock the boy but quickly dismissed the thought.

"WHAT? Since when?!" Naruto demanded, he thought Itachi was a genin! He was so sure that he was!

Itachi chuckled, "I was promoted in the chunin exams a few months before we had met," he explained before he held up a hand, stopping Naruto's questions, "I understand your shock but save your questions until after the lesson. I will answer them but we cannot stray too far from the topic,"

Naruto nodded and prepared himself for what his newest teacher had to say.

"Genjutsu are techniques that are employed in the same fashion as ninjutsu, requiring chakra and hand seals. However, the primary difference between the two is that the effects of genjutsu are illusory; instead of attacking the victim's body, like taijutsu or ninjutsu, genjutsu techniques manipulate the flow of chakra in the victim's brain, thus causing a disruption in their senses."

"There are a few ways to do this but the most common ways are to implant your charka into another being's chakra network, planting your chakra and creating an illusion on a physical object or eliminating or creating false images or senses.

"Genjutsu is a highly underrated aspect of the shinobi arts, even though it is one of the big three. The two main requirements for genjutsu are high intelligence and very fine chakra control. Most shinobi lack one or the other if not the willingness to use the art therefore there are very few genjutsu masters or even experts."

"I will be teaching you more about how to implement a genjutsu at a later date but for now we will be focusing on how to disrupt and break a genjutsu for practical reasons."

He took a deep breath, gathering air for yet another long speech.

"There are two main methods of dispelling a genjutsu; altering the flow of your chakra or a sharp physical reaction. I will explain them in order."

"To dispel an illusion with your chakra; you cease the flow of your chakra then expel it in a burst or send it to the affected area, which is normally the head, and it removes the genjutsu. For the first method; the larger the chakra burst, the stronger genjutsu you can dispel and it is the easier method.

However, this method can be rather wasteful for your chakra since it is impossible to gauge how much chakra you must use to dispel an illusion."

He paused for a moment and looked at Naruto clinically, "You use this method to disrupt the few jutsu that you can break out of. We will be fine tuning it until you're able to break out of everything below a B-rank. The side effect shouldn't affect you too much considering your ungodly chakra reserves that are still growing,"

Naruto's head was spinning from all the information but he managed to fire off a question, showing that he was slowly understanding what the elder boy was saying, "What about the other method,"

"The other method is most commonly associated with the sense of pain. While this provides problems in itself, a strong sense of pain or another physical reaction will override the genjutsu and dispel it," Itachi explained.

Naruto paused for a moment, absorbing the knowledge before slowly saying, "Okay...I think I got it...so, when do we begin?" ha asked and earned a smile from Itachi.

"Why...we already have; you've been trapped in my genjutsu since the moment I closed my book," he said; causing Naruto to realize that he had a long way to go.

* * *

Four days until the chunin exams

The gates to the village were crowded; more so than Naruto had ever seen. There were twenty-five genin teams, themselves included, so that meant there were seventy-five genin here in addition to the families and sensei's of each genin.

There was a large crowd around the genin, all of them shouting good lucks to their children and wishing them well.

Naruto's team was no different; he saw dozens of Inuzuka's all cheering Hana off and more than a few Aburame's silently waving Lavi off. He had been assigned to team thirteen when Akito had been crippled and deemed unable for active duty.

Naruto was searching the crowd for a familiar face but he found none. Where was Kakashi-nii and Anko-nee? Where were all of teachers? Where were all of his friends?

Naruto felt a small wave of disappointment and sadness well up in his chest; were they not coming? Did they forget? No! They promised that they would see him off; they wouldn't break their promise!

Naruto searched the crowd, looking for someone before he was interrupted by a smoke bomb going off. At first he tensed, ready for battle along with all of the other genin teams, but when the smoke cleared; he found the familiar faces he had been looking for.

In the small opening that had been opened up with the smoke bomb stood all of his friends and family; Anko-nee, Kakashi-nii, Gai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Hayate-sensei, Itachi, Sasuke, their mother and Itachi's friend, Ayame, Teuchi, Kurenai, and even Akito was there.

Anko was prancing around with a large banner that said, 'Go Naru-chan' while singing that if anyone could win the chunin exams then Naru-chan can. Kakashi-nii was holding the other end of the banner but he wasn't jumping around like Anko; he chose to give Naruto a double eye smile and a thumbs up. Gai was jumping around with Anko. Itachi and Sasuke were waving goodbye and shouting good luck, respectively. Ayame was screaming that even though he was small he could still win; her father was offering free ramen for a month if he won. All his other sensei's and Kurenai were all shouting good luck and wishing him well.

The last one he looked at was Akito; he was in a wheelchair with a brown haired girl behind him. He was sending Naruto a smirk and a thumbs up before he whispered something just for Naruto to see.

"Kick ass and take names,"

Naruto smiled so wide that his face hurt and tears sprung up in his eyes. He rubbed them away with the back of his forearm before sending his family a confident smile and a thumbs up; a mere moment before they were given the sign to head out.

Naruto was still waving goodbye and his family was still shouting good lucks to him; all confident that Naruto would do great and win the whole darn thing.

However, unknown to all of them; Naruto was participating in the chunin exam that would one day be called the Exam of the Red Sand. A chunin exam that was so bloody that of the one hundred and twenty-three teams that participated in it...

Not even a third of them lived to see the third exam.

**The next chapter will be the first part of the chunin exams! Leave a review!**


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